Transform and Roll Out
by Miles333
Summary: Wally West finds himself stalked by a yellow car that might possibly be an alien robot. The rest of the League thinks he's insane. But then four more robots arrive, warning of a coming danger. Can Wally stop the Decepticons...by himself?
1. Preface

**Disclaimer: **I think all of you know the drill by now. I don't own anything in this story, except for the plot, which came to me in a sudden flash of brilliance. lol Enjoy, and don't forget to review! :)

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Preface

It was just me and them against the invaders now. We didn't stand a chance.

I guess that's overly dramatic. Bats would be giving me the BatGlare right about now, his way of telling me to turn down the volume on my doom and gloom announcements. Who wouldn't be a little depressed with odds like this, though? Even I was, and I was Wally West, the Fastest Man Alive. I was usually the cheery one, the one who cracked constant jokes, the one who was always smiling.

Even as I stared at my fast-approaching doom, streaking across the sky, I sobered up at the thought of Batman. I didn't even know if he was still alive. After what I had seen, the first wave of attacks…who could survive that? Batman was strong, but not _that_ strong. He was only human.

And Supes, Diana, GL, Shayera, and J'onn. Were they alright out there? Were they injured, or worse? If they were, I knew that I would never survive. They were my best friends (well, most of them were, anyway), not that I'd tell _them_ that. We had worked together to stop the Imperium invasion, all the way up to the Thanagarian one. And beyond. We were all still together, the seven of us, the best crime-fighting team in the galaxy. Or so I liked to think.

With the Unlimited members unable to come to our aid, we had been ready to face these invaders on our own. We had been ready to trust these huge metallic aliens who claimed that they cared for the good of mankind, of humanity.

Supes had thought they were telling the truth, the way they made sure to be careful around people. One wrong step and they would crush the innocent bystanders. Of course, that's probably how the Big Guy felt all the time himself, so he was naturally drawn to them.

J'onn had agreed that the aliens were safe. He was the mind reader of the group, so it was good to know that he said they were okay. Though he couldn't exactly read their minds.

Shayera had been wary and suspicious of them even from the start. That was typical of my adopted big sis, since she was a Thanagarian warrior at heart. She was cautious around everyone she met at first, whether they were human or, well...not.

GL was sort of reluctant to them, though he was the guy who had traveled the universe with the Green Lantern Corps countless times. He had a green power-ring from a group of little blue guys on a planet called Oa, for Pete's sake. He should be more experienced with aliens like the newest visitors.

Diana had decided at the beginning to like them. I guess they sort of reminded her of herself, Superman, J'onn. They were seemingly alone, besides the evil ones of their kind. They didn't know where any of the rest of their race resided in the universe.

Batman hadn't had much to say on the subject. I never really knew what he thought of our new allies. He seemed suspicious of them, but he was Batman. He hadn't even liked J'onn when he's first met him all those years ago, and that was saying something. Everyone liked our friendly neighborhood Martian.

Now, back in the present time, I stared back at the pointed shape coming at me. It was cruel and metallic, purplish in the fading light. It glimmered coldly at me, sending shivers down my spine. Though it was coming right at me at speeds that only I could match, it still seemed to be in slow motion.

Everything was up to me now. Me and the five Autobots.


	2. A Cold Crime

**A/N: **Wow, thanks for all the amazing reviews, guys. I never would have thought that so many people would like the idea of a _Justice League/Transformers_ crossover. :) And just so all of you know, the Autobots are the ones from the 2007 movie, not the cartoon, to avoid all confusion. Enjoy the chapter, and don't forget to review!

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Chapter One: A Cold Crime

The giant wolf creature turned its head to stare out at me, slowly but deliberately pulling its lips back from its yellow teeth. The murderous expression that it wore was enough to give any person nightmares. It let out a low and deep growl of rage, then lunged in for the kill.

Linda screamed from the couch beside me, pressing her face into my arm. "Wally, how you watch movies like this, I'll never know," she told me darkly, keeping her eyes averted from the blood and guts literally spraying across the screen.

"Oh, you just don't know a good movie when you see one. This is _awesome_!" I teased her, keeping my tone light. I'd seen much worse things than the fictional werewolf attack on the TV screen. One of the worst things had involved my father beating my mother for feeding me extra food at supper. I would never forget those dark days from my childhood, though you'd never catch me telling anyone about them.

"I think I do. And this isn't one." She sighed loudly. "Turn it off, Wally. This is really creeping me out."

"Don't listen, then," I suggested, eyes glued to the screen. The creature howled triumphantly, standing beside the broken and mutilated bodies of the villagers. It was one of my rare days off from the League, and I really wanted to get this movie watched before it was due back at the video rental place.

"Wa-_lly_," she drew the word out, whining. She blinked her big eyes up at me pathetically, grabbing at my arm. "Let's go have dinner instead. Maybe at that pizza place? That scientist job of yours keeps you busy all the time. We never get to go out anymore."

How could I resist her when she looked at me with those big eyes? "With that logic, how could I say no, Linda? The way to a guy's heart is through his stomach, they always say."

She grinned at me. "I don't know about all guys, but that definitely works for you."

An annoying beep went off in my ear, and I winced. _Not _now_,_ I thought, rolling my eyes.

"Uh…are you okay?" She was looking at me, making me suddenly realize that I'd spoken out loud. She had the look of someone staring at a crazy person.

"Fine, perfect. Wonderful! Uh, just gotta use the bathroom, that's right!" I leapt to my feet, barely restraining from using my speed. I felt like jumping from foot to foot while I waited for her to answer; could Linda get any slower right now? A second beep assaulted my ear, and my hand involuntarily flew up to it.

"Too many Mountain Dews, huh? I told you to stop after six." She raised her eyebrows, obviously suspicious with my story. That was the reporter in her, I guess.

"Yeah, next time I'll listen to you. See ya in a sec!" I hopped over the empty two-liter that had fallen off the coffee table, and darted into the bathroom. I slammed the door, and twisted the rusty facet to turn on the sink.

By the time a third beep was ringing in my eardrum, I was sitting on the closed toilet lid. "What?" I demanded. I cleared my throat, glancing towards the bathroom door. I couldn't let Linda think I was talking to myself in here. Then she would lose all hope in the saneness of her boyfriend.

_"Sorry, am I interrupting something?" _Mr. Terrific said in a voice that relayed the smirk that was most likely dominant across his face.

"Yeah, Michael, you kind of are," I muttered, shooting another look towards the door. I briefly considered stuffing some towels under it so she couldn't hear me talking to no one in particular. I decided that it wasn't worth the trouble. "This is my day off, remember?"

_"Sorry about that, but we're short of members today. And there's a situation in Central City right now. Shayera said that you would take care of it."_

I sighed heavily. "What kind of 'situation'?"

"Wally? Are you okay?" Linda tapped curiously on the door.

Luckily the lid was on, or I would have fallen in with surprise. "Fine, Linda, fine!"

"Are you sure? I thought I heard you say something. Besides, you're missing the goriest part of the movie. The werewolf is tearing off someone's head. Where's the remote so I can turn it down?"

_"Are you talking to me?" _Mr. T. asked, voice heavy with confusion.

"No," I answered curtly.

"What?" Linda sounded shocked and hurt. "You don't want me to turn it down?"

_Can this day get any worse? _I wondered silently. "No, I mean, go ahead! It's probably under one of the couch cushions!" I yelled through the door, grimacing. "Why don't you go look for it real quick?"

"Sure that you're okay? You drank a awful lot of Mountain Dew…"

I sighed, feeling my cheeks go red. The curse of being born with red hair; you blushed way too easily. I quickly screwed the knob to turn off the steady stream of water in the sink. "Perfect," I squeaked unconvincingly. I waited until I heard her footsteps walk away, then hissed, "Okay, so tell me what's going on, Michael."

_"If you don't mind me asking, who in the _world_ are you talking to? Since it's obviously not me."_

_None of your business, dude, _I thought crossly."I thought that you said this was _important_."

_"Oh. Right. Well, the sensors are picking up some serious activity down there. Captain Cold, Killer Frost, and Mr. Freeze are attempting to rob the bank on Main Street."_

"Mr. Freeze? That guy always gives me the cold shoulder; he's such a Batman villain."

_"Good one," _Mr. Terrific laughed.

"I know. No one else really appreciates my genius," I said appreciatively. I kinda liked this guy; he actually understood my jokes. "Guess I'll get going. I'll call you when I'm done, so you can beam me up. I want to talk to Shayera, okay?"

_"Good luck." _The comm. link line went dead, buzzing in my ear for a few seconds before finally going dead.

I creaked open the door to the bathroom, peering out. Linda was digging through the cushions of the couch, handfuls of popcorn falling out. Okay, so maybe I'd gotten a little carried away with the food. And the Mountain Dew. So sue me.

Seeing that she was otherwise occupied for the moment, I blurred over to my room, grabbed a tiny gold costume ring from one of my dresser drawers, and sped back into the bathroom. By the time she was turning around to see what the sudden sound of wind had been about, I had the ring on a finger and was coming out the correct door.

"What are you doing? You look like a man on a mission," she joked, locating the right button to turn down the volume. She pushed it from fifty to the much lower ten. Yeah, I like my movies loud.

"To get us some pizza," I lied, more convincingly that before. "That idea you had earlier was way too good to pass up." _And it isn't really lying, _I assured myself. _I'll pick up some on the way back from turning the cold crew in to the cops. I just won't tell her what I'm going to do before stopping by Pizza Paul's._

"Really?"

"Yep. Half pepperoni, half olives, right?" I started backing towards the door, reluctant to leave her when we'd only been hanging out for a little over an hour.

"On all nine of them. And I only want one of those, by the way. You can have the other eight pizzas." She winked at me, lips twisting into a smug smirk.

"Right. Okay then. See you in a few minutes, okay?" I hurriedly threw open the apartment door and went out into the hallway. I saw my landlady, Mrs. Parkenson, at the end of the wall, and took off in a blur before she could see me. She was very annoying sometimes. Alright, most of the time.

Running in a streak of green and denim, I pressed the tiny button on the band of the costume ring. A fresh Flash costume exploded from inside the small compartment, and I hastily threw it on, shredding my old clothes in the process. I didn't even pause for a second, perfectly keeping on pace.

_What's up with Shayera today? _I wondered on the way to the cold convention. _She knows not to bother me on the days that I have off. Maybe Bats blackmailed her or something…_

"Hey, it's the Flash!" yelled this girl with blond hair as I raced past her, blowing her hair and skirt all over the place. I kept my eyes straight ahead, determined not to look. I had Linda, and Linda was the perfect girlfriend. So there.

The whole trip took me only about 7.2 seconds to complete. Before I knew it, I was screeching to a halt in front of the Central City Bank. Mr. Freeze, Killer Frost, and Captain Cold were just coming out of the bank. The psychos in question were each carrying a bulging bag of money over one shoulder.

I spun around Captain Cold, spilling his loot all over the ground. A storm of hundred dollar bills fluttered wildly around us. "Hey, Captain Koala!" I greeted him enthusiastically. "Why didn't you tell me that you invited friends over?"

"It's the Flash!" Mr. Freeze growled, voice coming out distorted in his glass facemask. He raised his freeze ray whatever-it-was and fired a stream of sparkling blue ice in my direction. I dodged out of the way just in time, allowing the ice to splatter all over the building that had been behind me. The icicles flew everywhere, pelting the street.

"That's the most original thing you can thing of to say?" I taunted him, dancing out of reach of the freeze ray, if that was what it was called.

"You're such a handsome man. I think I'll keep you," Killer Frost sneered, attempting to freeze me in a block of ice. Needless to say, I'm not called The Fastest Man Alive for nothing. I got out of the way yet again.

"Watch out for thin ice," Mr. Freeze muttered in his thick accent. He sprayed the ground behind me with glistening ice, and I couldn't get away before the ice was all around me. I started to run, but ended up sliding and slipping across it.

"You should leave the Bat be and help us against the League. This was way too easy," Captain Cold grinned at his partner in crime.

_I'm not beat yet, dude. _I dropped onto my stomach and threw myself across the smooth surface like one of those penguins on a slope at the South Pole. I was off the ice in an instant, leaping towards the trio.

"I could do this all day, you know," I told them with a grin, pausing to put both hands on my hips heroically.

Captain Cold glared at me, the effect comical with his blue goggles and bright white hood. "So could I, Flash." This time, the ice hit me head-on. It incased my body in an icy cocoon, pinning me to the asphalt.

I grunted, struggling to get free. _Okay, maybe I _am_ beat. This doesn't look good. _I tried vibrating my molecules, but it was like they were frozen solid. Which they probably were. I could barely move, and was picturing my arms turning black and dropping off with frostbite.

I activated my comm. link, trying to ignore the three villains heading towards me with all too smug expressions on their faces. "Uh…Mr. T.? I could use some help down here."

"Mr. Terrific is not here right now, Flash." J'onn's voice came thickly from the small earpiece. "Is there something I could help you with?"

"Uh…you could say that." I tried to move my arm, but it was stuck fast. The cloth covering it made a small ripping sound as it tore away from me, frozen to the ice. "I could use a little help down here, J'onn."

"Say goodnight, Flash." Cold lifted his own gun, and prepared to turn me into a giant ice cube with a head.

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	3. Wrapping Things Up

**A/N: **Yes, I'm finally updating this story. I had to delay until today, because this is a birthday present to someone. Happy birthday to Amber!

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Chapter Two: Wrapping Things Up

I cringed, preparing to feel the ice cover my body completely and painfully. In the couple of seconds that seemed to tick by in slow motion for me, I stared into the ice blaster that Captain Cold was waving around in my face. This would be a kind of sucky way to die, if you stopped to think about it. Turned into an ice cube by a lame villain like him, when you'd helped take down people like Grodd and Brainiac. Not that I'm bragging about that, or anything.

Suddenly, a stream of green energy exploded past me and into Cold. He dropped the ice gun in shock, thrown backwards into a car. The ice already encased around my body started to drip slightly, which was an unpleasant sensation. Now my costume was getting all wet, which felt slightly weird.

"Oh, look," Killer Frost sneered loudly from her position beside Mr. Freeze. "A petite little icicle. Maybe I should freeze you right there!" She lunged at Ice, who was still glowing slightly blue as she finished teleporting down from the Watchtower. Ice lost no time running to meet the chilly criminal.

"Do you need a hand, Flash?" The Brazilian babe Fire stared down at me, a slight smirk curving her lips. She seemed to find my current situation amusing, which was pretty rude of her. It wasn't fun to be stuck in a block of ice, let me tell you.

"Yes. Please." I grinned back at her. For some reason, Cold constantly caught me unaware in these blasted blocks of ice. I could never vibrate out of them, like I could other objects. This never failed to annoy me.

A swell of green flames shone from Fire's hands. She narrowed her emerald eyes in concentration as she carefully radiated the heat down at me. I could instantly feel it through the ice, and cringed slightly. "Tell me if I start to hurt you, Flash," she said worriedly, accent thicker with her concern.

"Oh, I'm goo…yow!" I bolted straight upright as the heat seared into my skin, using my speed to tear through the remaining shards of ice. I ended up several feet away from her, biting back a few choice words. Some of my costume was torn, which was most definitely not good. These things did not come from, say, a costume store. Luckily I had plenty of rings back in my apartment, though.

"Are you alright?" Her eyes were huge as the flames stopped sizzling from her fingertips.

"Yeah," I muttered, not wanting her to feel bad for totally ruining my costume. Oh, well. "I just-" I broke off, seeing Mr. Freeze raise his freeze ray thingy and aim it at her back. "Look out!" I'd sort of forgotten that we were in the middle of a fight, being too preoccupied with her burning me alive and all.

Fire whipped her head around, green hair flying into her face. Her hands clenched into fists, then her power flared up all over her body. She formed a shield in front of herself as Freeze shot a steady stream of ice at her. I saw her forehead wrinkle with the strain, and was about to go to her aid when I saw Captain Cold getting up. He grabbed his bag of money and started to hurry away.

I raced after him, deciding that Fire and Ice could handle themselves for the time being. I screeched to a stop right in front on him, boots sliding on the asphalt. "Hey, Cold! Where're you going? The party's just getting started!"

"I'm afraid that's why I'm going, Flash." He darted his eyes away from me, towards the sidewalk. I didn't follow his gaze; this was an old trick. He was pretending like he saw something over there, and there really wasn't anything. Everybody tried it at one time or another.

"Like I'm going to let you get away, dude," I said pointedly, motioning towards my boots. "Fastest Man Alive, remember?"

"And so modest. Eh, Flash? Well, even you can't be in two places at once. If you try to stop me, _she_ dies!" In one quick movement, surprising even me, he raised his cold-gun and fired towards the sidewalk. I moved my head to look ahead of the ice, and saw a girl of about fourteen standing there, frozen in terror (sorry, no pun intended).

I knew that Captain Cold was getting away as I did this, but I ran towards the girl. I reached her just before the wave of ice did, grabbing her up into my arms. I did a roll out into the street, barely managing to avoid getting iced again. We crashed into a parked car, and my head knocked against the pavement. Pretty little stars sparkled before my eyes.

"Wow, you're the _Flash_!" the girl gasped, leaning up into my face excitedly. I could make out the fact that she had long black hair and hazel eyes, through the fog coating my vision. "I'm, like, your biggest fan!"

"Thanks, kid." I groggily sat up, touching my aching head with one hand. The girl was still sprawled across my lap, practically bouncing up and down.

"My name's Amber! Here's my number!" She seemingly pulled a slip of paper out of nowhere, waving it under my nose. "You should call me sometime. All my friends would be _so_ jealous!" Her eyes sparkled at this thought.

"Uh…I think I'm a little old for you," I said uncertainly. I craned my neck to try and see where Captain Koala had gotten off to. Why did the bad guys always throw a girl at you and escape like this? So cliché.

_"Flash, this is the Watchtower," _J'onn told me gravely from my comm. link, nearly giving me a heart attack. _"We have a developing situation."_

"Yeah, I know," I said hotly. "Cold is getting away here, J'onn! I'm not really sure which way he went. Do you have some kind of machine that can find cold spots, by any chance?"

Amber looked at me like I was insane. "No, I don't," she told me. "And who's John? My name's Amber, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember," I answered, slightly distracted between the two conversations. I could still hear Fire and Ice fighting Killer Frost and Mr. Freeze back in front of the bank. "And J'onn is a Martian."

"A Martian?" Amber squealed. "No way! That green guy in the blue outfit, you mean?"

_"I know that I am a Martian, Flash. And what was that extremely high-pitched sound in the background?"_ J'onn sounded confused, which was seriously weird for him.

"Uh, a girl. Squealing. That's who I was talking to a minute ago," I explained.

_"Oh. I see. And you are still fighting Captain Cold and the others? I thought that you would have been finished by now."_

I gritted my teeth together. Just because I had speed powers didn't mean that I could do _everything_ fast. Rolling my eyes, I answered, "Yeah, there have been a few complications." Namely, a girl named Amber who had literally landed in my lap. She was touching the lighting bolt logo on my chest as though trying to figure out if it was real. "Why?"

_"The Founding Members are all in the monitoring room. As I said before, a situation has occurred."_

"Okay, Wade. What's the sitch?"

There was a long and awkward silence.

I swallowed hard. "I take it that you've never watched Kim Possible." My stunningly sharp wit is so wasted on everyone else.

_"I don't understand this word, 'sitch'. It isn't in the English dictionaries."_

Poor J'onn. So clueless sometimes, for a psychic.

_"Flash, what he's saying is that you need to get up here right away." _Superman had apparently taken control of the communications system, voice grim. And if the Boy Scout was worried, something was definitely up.

"Okay. See you in a few." I signed off the comm. line, then blurred to my feet. I sat Amber down, and she swayed slightly. She looked a little green from the fast movement. "Nice meeting you, Amber…" I said.

She clutched at my costume frantically. "My friends will _never_ believe this!" Her eyes looked desperate enough to kidnap me and tie me up to show off to her friends.

"Here." I gingerly plucked a scrap of red fabric from where it was dangling from my arm. Between the incident with the ice and Fire roasting me, I was lucky that I wasn't completely naked. This thought made me blush.

I really don't like being a redhead sometimes.

She snatched the scorched cloth away from me, eyes budging out of her head. "I can't wait to tell Daemon about this!" she gasped out in awe. "Thank you so much!"

I smiled at her. Wow, I really had a fan club going. "No problemo. See you around, Amber." I streaked away in the direction that I had seen Cold head in before I had darted over to rescue the damsel in distress.

Sure enough, I caught up to him about five seconds later, getting ready to climb into a run-down car. "Hey, Cold! You didn't get rid of me that easy!" I called to him, winking.

He whirled to face me, shooting with his cold-ray at the pavement beneath my boots. I tried to run, thinking that he was going to aim for my feet, but that obviously wasn't his true intentions. I started sliding frantically across the slippery surface, arms waving out at my sides as I tried to get my balance.

"Good day, Flash." He bobbed his head at me, then climbed into his car. While I tried to keep from going splat on the miniature ice rink, he started up the car engine. He slammed his foot down on the gas petal, car shooting away from the curb with the loud squealing of tires.

I gave up on trying to stay on my feet, and flung myself down onto my stomach. I glided my way off the ice like a penguin from the Discovery Channel, flipping easily to my feet as soon as I was on solid ground again. I raced after Cold's car; he didn't stand a chance.

I ran a few high-speed circles around the car, and pieces of rusty junk floated up into the air, disabling the vehicle. It creaked depressingly to a stop, engine whining. I threw open the car door, reached in, and grabbed Cold by the shirt. I hauled him out, holding him up in the air. He glared daggers at me, not seeming to be too happy about being caught.

"Here come the police, Flash!" Ice said, gliding over on a ramp of, well, ice. She formed it in front of her in the air, pushing an unconscious Killer Frost in front of her.

Flying behind her came Fire, who was gripping a struggling Mr. Freeze. He was yelling about Nora, whoever that was. A light bulb went off in my head, and I recalled something about Nora being the name of his wife. The one frozen (wow, what a surprise) in some tank of water, since she had some kind of life threatening disease. Creepy, in my book.

The four cop cars came towards us, sirens blaring. They parked in the street, the lights on tops flashing from blue to red. Several officers piled out, hurrying over to get the criminals from us. It was back to Arkham for them.

As soon as we handed over the three icicles, I touched my comm. link with two fingers. "Three ready for pick-up." I closed my eyes as the familiar yet unsettling feeling of the teleporter attaching itself to my molecules began. I felt weird as they were pulled apart then quickly reassembled. _I wonder what's going on, _I thought curiously, remembering the call from J'onn and Supes. _I guess I'll find out in a few minutes._

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	4. No Survivors?

Chapter Three: No Survivors?

As soon as the teleporter reattached my molecules together, I waved bye to Fire and Ice. Then I turned and sped towards the monitoring room, which was just above the teleporting pad. On the way, I happened to notice Question, weirdo of the League, examining the wall with a magnifying glass.

I screeched to a stop, boots protesting with a high-pitched squeaking sound. "What's happenin', Question?" I prepared myself for a good laugh. I liked to listen to the fedora-clad guy's wild theories. They really made my day.

"I am investigating what could turn out to be a mutant rat problem aboard the Watchtower," he answered me seriously, not looking up from where he examined the metal wall. "I am currently looking for holes cloaked with invisible shields that are allowing the rats to board."

I snickered, watching him pull a blue notebook from the pocket of his trench coat. He scribbled importantly with a stub of a pencil for a few moments. "So what makes you think we have mutant rats up here?" I asked, suppressing a laugh. I ran over several good jokes about exterminators in my head.

"One was sighted in this corridor," Question told me solemnly. He consulted his notes. "And it made a strange sound, really high-pitched. Like a whistle. Which ties into my theory about dog whistles being the root of all evil, summoning aliens to our planet. Did you ever listen to hear if there was a whistle being blown close by, on the day of the Imperium invasion? Or when the Thanagarians came?"

"Uh…" I scratched my head, frowning as he got me all confused. "Um, I never really listened for any whistles." _Wow, this guy is crazier than I thought. There must be a full moon or something. _"And who exactly 'sighted' these mutant rats?" I asked curiously, cocking one eyebrow.

He peered down at his neat writing again, where it flowed across the page. He slowly turned a few pages, apparently looking for something. I tapped my foot, waiting impatiently. I knew that I should have already been up at the monitoring womb, like J'onn and Superman had told me to do, but I wanted to hear the rest of this story Question was telling me. It had to be good.

"Ah, yes. Starman and Stargirl, a.k.a. Prince Gavyn and Courtney Whitmore, were the witnesses. They both sighted it running down this very wall. It was described as several feet tall and a strange silver color. When they followed it around that corner," he paused to point, "the hallway was empty. All that was in sight was a portable radio of some kind. When I investigated this radio, hoping to find clues to the mysterious Cult of Stereo, it was gone." He flipped the notebook closed. "And speaking of the Cult, watch out. They hide nanobots inside various CDs, and when you open them, the nanos eat away your flesh. There have been several cases of this in Oklahoma and parts of Texas."

I discovered that my mouth was hanging open, and quickly closed it. I vaguely wondered if he had been digging through people's trashcans again to find out everyone's secret identity. "Wow. That's…interesting," I managed to say in a dazed voice. My brain felt like it had been eaten away by acid. Maybe the 'Cult of Stereo' got me. I made sure not to mention it to Question.

"Be sure to spread the word about the mutant rats. There could be a population explosion of them. All it takes is two to make the Watchtower infested with them."

"I thought that rats couldn't survive in space," I spoke up. "You know, like bugs can't."

"That is where you are wrong. All kinds of mutant creatures are able to live in space. They just have to adapt to their surroundings. And since they are of course mutants, this is relatively easy. Would you like to be the bait for this rat? I have studied the problem of how to capture it very thoroughly, and evidence shows that someone lying on the floor summons them. Most likely the said person is thought of as food."

"Uh…no thanks." I slowly backed away from him. "I'm gonna have to pass on that. Have a good time, though." I raced off, nearly tripping over my own feet in my urge to get away from him. He'd finally flipped. Yeah, it was definitely the full moon. I'd heard all about the girl scouts and the flea collars and stuff, but mutant rats aboard the Watchtower? Too weird.

This time, I didn't stop until I reached my destination. I'd learned my lesson. If I stopped to say hi to conspiracy theorists, they would ask me to sit on the floor and wait for mutant rats to come nibble on me. I shuddered at the thought as I skidded to a stop on the slick floor of the monitoring womb. I had a special dislike for rats. My dad hadn't believed in doing anything about pests at our house, so he'd just let them take over. They'd even been in the refrigerator, much to my disgust. I shook my head to clear away thoughts of my troubled childhood. I didn't really like to think about it, if I could help it.

Looking up, I found Supes, J'onn, GL, Shayera, Diana, and Bats all staring up at the main computer screen. Mr. Terrific was typing frantically on a smaller keyboard off to the side. They all looked busy, and I was glad that I hadn't really hurried to get here. I was likely to be bored out of my mind for a while now. I briefly thought of ways to escape now, before it was too late.

"What's up?" I asked, looking at the screen for maybe two seconds. It wasn't anything exciting, just some guy standing in front of a blue curtain talking. I figured that he was pretty important, since there were two men in fancy suits standing on either side of him. I shrugged and looked away, already bored. "And what's the big idea with you volunteering me for a mission on my day off, Shayera? I was kinda busy," I added.

She frowned at me, brushing hair out of her eyes. "This is serious, Wally," she whispered to me, trying not to bother the others as they stared intently at the screen. "The Watchtower picked up this important broadcast from down on Earth. It's John Keller."

I blinked cluelessly at her. "Like…Helen Keller? Are they related?" I felt proud of myself for making this connection.

She rolled her eyes and groaned. "_No_," she declared, acting annoyed. "The secretary of defense, stupid." She wasn't even from Earth, but she sure knew an awful lot more than me about all the government stuff. I'd flunked history, so I couldn't even name all the presidents and stuff. I knew Abraham Lincoln and George Washington and the other famous ones, though.

"What took you so long to get here?" Batman asked me darkly. He turned his head to face me, eyes narrowed into thin white slits.

"Uh…had to stop at the little boy's room," I lied quickly. That seemed to be my excuse for everything these days.

"Right," Shayera said. I definitely couldn't fool her. That's one of the reasons that I consider her my big sister. Only, you know, short.

"Shhh. Listen," Superman reprimanded us quietly. He's such a Boy Scout.

I joined them right in front of the computer screen, staring as hard as I could. I tried my best to make myself concentrate. The dude, John Keller, was still talking. _"…At this time, we cannot confirm whether there were any survivors." _My ears perked up at this, and I stared at his grim face. What was he talking about? _"Our bases as of right now are at our highest readiness level. We're dealing with a very effective weapons system that we have not come across before. But our prayers are with the families of the brave men and women who fought in this war. Please stay calm and listen for updates on this grave situation. Thank you."_

Superman turned down the volume, and he looked at the others. They all wore worried expressions, even Batman. I could really tell that something big was going on when the Dark Knight actually acted concerned.

"This is very bad," Mr. Terrific said from his position just across the room. He spoke the obvious. Even I could tell that something bad was going on.

"What are we going to do?" Diana wondered aloud, brow wrinkled with confusion.

"The President was very sure that we were to blame for whatever attacked the base in Qatar," J'onn murmured in his thick Martian accent. "I had to reassure him several times that this was not the case. We will have to try our best to track whoever hacked the military network."

"If they try again, and actually get what they were searching for, who knows what will happen," Supes added seriously. "Next time maybe they won't be cut off in time."

"And they don't even know how much information was lost this time," John pointed out. "It was classified information. They should lock down all the systems to keep it from happening again."

I stared back and forth between them, frowning as I got more and more lost in this conversation. It was like they were speaking in some kind of secret code. "Will someone please tell me what's going on here?" I requested loudly.

"Weren't you listening?" Shayera asked with exasperation.

"Some sort of creature attacked a base in Qatar," GL told me, raising his eyebrows as he spoke. "It hacked the military network in a very short amount of time, with some kind of high-pitched sound. Someone managed to pull the plug in time to stop all the information from being lost to whatever it was. But no one thinks that there were any survivors of the attack."

"Oh," I said quietly. That really wasn't good.

"And the President thought that we were behind the attack?" I had actually picked up on that part of the conversation. This seemed shocking to think. Why would he think that we would do something like that? We were the Justice League. We protected the world; we didn't attack it.

J'onn nodded solemnly.

"This may be a stupid question, but…why?"

"Because of what happened with the binary fusion canon in the desert in Nevada," Batman explained to me, frowning. "The government apparently thinks that we're manufacturing weapons up here then testing them down on Earth."

"That's crazy!" I yelled. I blushed, glancing over my shoulder. Shining Knight and Vigilante were walking by outside the doorway, and stared at me oddly.

"Try telling that to the President," John said glumly.

"What can we do? They believe us now, right?" I wanted to know.

"I think so," Superman said dubiously. "He didn't really tell us much, besides the main facts of the situation. He asked us to try to find whatever did the hacking and get rid of it before it causes the military networks to crash. That could very well happen next time."

"Hmmm." I wasn't sure what to think about this. It seemed kind of suspicious. "So some other country created it as a weapon or something?"

"So the President thinks," J'onn replied somewhat sadly.

Suddenly, the lights flickered. There was a stunned moment of silence as we all stared at each other. There was a low whining sound that unexpectedly came from somewhere inside the Watchtower.

"What just happened?" I queried nervously. The weird sound made me think of my encounter with Question. Maybe his whistling mutant rat theory wasn't so far off after all.

A burst of static exploded from the communications system, making all of us except Batman jump in surprise. _"…Hack…some kind of robot…need…help…" _came Atom's voice through the heavily obscuring static coating his frantic words. Then all of the lights went out again, and didn't come back on this time.

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	5. Hacking the Watchtower

**A/N: **Sorry for the long wait, guys. ^-^; Uh…please don't kill me? Here's your new chapter now, so go and read it, 'kay? *ducks away to safety*

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Chapter Four: Hacking the Watchtower

Before any of the others could even react to Atom's frantic message, I ran out of the room. I blew past the Crimson Avenger and Hourman, who were aiming flashlights around the corridor, and headed straight for the generator room. Lots of computer tech and other important gizmos that Bats and Supes had collected were stored in there, and Ray constantly fixed things down there. That was my first guess on where to search.

And Atom had said something about 'hack'. The weird creature from Qatar immediately popped into my head. Was it possible that the same thing had somehow gotten up here, and was hacking into the Watchtower's systems? I didn't even want to think about all the top-secret data that would be lost. Certain batsy people who did all kind of things with the files and stuff would have heart attacks, if my guess was correct.

I streaked past Gypsy, who shrieked and pawed at her long skirt as it fluttered innocently up into her face. I wouldn't have even seen her through the darkness if Dove and Speedy hadn't been standing with her, also shining emergency flashlights at each other.

And I definitely didn't see Stargirl, the mutant rat sighter herself. I slammed into her at super speed, boots digging into the slick tile less than half a second before I hit her. My attempt to slow down didn't help much, and we both went flying into the wall, our combined impact sending a metallic thud echoing throughout the Watchtower.

So much for me getting to Atom before the others could.

"Ow," I groaned, trying to untangle myself from Courtney. I thought about asking her about the rat sighting, but decided against it. I impatiently pushed her long blond hair out of my face, blinking.

"Get off of me, you pervert!" Stargirl shrieked at the top of her lungs, whacking me on the head with her staff. "Pat! Pat, get him off me!" She flailed frantically, and kicked me in the face with a boot.

I leapt out of the way, finally freeing myself. STRIPE was just coming over, white armor glowing in the eerie darkness. I grimaced, rubbing my nose with one hand. _That's gonna leave a mark, _I thought with annoyance. I offered the spirited heroine a hand. "Sorry-about-that-there's-kind-of-an-emergency," I blurted out.

She aimed her staff at me again, presumably to throw it at me this time. I left her on the floor and got the heck out of there, blurring towards my destination. Once that little detour was over, it only took me a few more seconds to reach the generator room. I skidded to a stop, boots squeaking loudly.

My eyes quickly scanned over what I could see in the inky darkness, then I noticed the tiny form sprawled limply on the floor a few yards away. "Ray!" I sprang over to him, carefully picking him up with cupped hands. His body was only about five and a half inches tall, and seemed to be unconscious. "Ray, are you okay, buddy?"

He moaned quietly, turning his head to the side.

I bit my lip, then glanced around for a safe place to put him. I selected the small countertop behind me, close to the doorway. I sped over and gently placed him down on the smooth surface. I didn't want to risk someone running in and stepping on him. The thought made me wince. That would have been bad.

Getting my mind back on the situation at hand, I froze. I scanned the room silently, senses going into high alert. I listened carefully, and heard a weird squeaking kind of sound coming from the section of machinery to my right. Apparently, whatever this thing was, it hadn't heard me come in.

I stepped quietly towards the noise, knowing that I didn't have very long before the rest of the cavalry came bursting in. I made sure to avoid the red power cord snaking between two important-looking devices. My eyes narrowed as the sound of unhurried typing reached my ears. Something definitely was hacking our systems, all right.

I moved onward, down a row of tall machinery. I tried to channel my inner Bat, slinking along and pretending that I was one with the shadows. I don't think that it was working very well, but at least I tried. As I got closer to the small racket, an eager chattering started up, irritating my ears.

I took the last step, and peered cautiously around a corner. I wasn't exactly sure what I was about to find. Since I was imagining things a whole lot worse, I wasn't really that shocked at what I actually saw. A silver robot made of spare parts that would probably reach up to my knees was huddled in front of something that was more than likely pretty important. Two glowing orbs shone from its ugly little face. It had several pinchers attached to the metal before it, and information was scrolling speedily across the small screen as it drained it all.

_So Question wasn't that far off, after all, _I mused silently, brow furrowing beneath my mask. _Mutant rats aren't that different from robots, once you think about it, I guess._

"Try the generator room!" yelled the voice of Diana, somewhere in the distance. I heard pounding footsteps heading this way, and turned my head towards the doorway. It was stupid, because I wouldn't have been able to see that far in the dark anyway. When I moved back to face the pesky robot, it had vanished.

I jumped over to where it had been standing just moments before, muttering choice expletives in my head. If the others found out that I had been standing there thinking about one of Question's conspiracies instead of just tackling the robot menace, they wouldn't be too pleased. They already thought that I was careless, and this would _really_ convince them.

"Over there!" An emerald light shone over me, and I yelped, dodging out of the way just in time. A blast of power from GL's ring crashed into the spot where I had been standing mere seconds before. I swallowed hard as I got to my feet, staring at the charred place on the metal.

"What was it?" Diana called.

"It's just Wally!" Shayera landed before me, feathered wings flapping once as she caught her balance. "What were you thinking? He could have killed you!" She was worried about me, as usual.

I frowned, annoyed despite her sisterly concern. I was a member of the League, too, after all, despite the fact that they all treated me like a teenage sidekick. I could take care of myself, whether they thought so or not. "I saw the thing that was doing this, but it…got away," I said lamely, as John, Bats, J'onn, Diana, and Supes landed behind Shayera. "It was some kind of little robot," I continued quickly, before they could start asking me exactly how it had managed to get away from the Fastest Man Alive. "But I don't think that it was human, if you get my drift."

Why hadn't I thought of it before? Of course the thing in Qatar could have been an E.T., like in that movie! It wasn't like aliens weren't real. I was standing here talking to a Martian, Thanagarian, and Kryptonian, and quite a few others native to space were hurrying around out in the corridor.

"I hate to tell you this, Flash, but no robots are human." John said it like he thought I was crazy.

"No, I meant that I don't think it was made by humans. It was way too advanced." I hastened to explain myself. "It was hacking the Watchtower's files all by itself, and kind of making this weird noise. Sort of like…it was talking to itself."

J'onn still wasn't saying anything, only listening thoughtfully to me speaking.

"Talking to itself?" Diana repeated skeptically, raising her eyebrows. They showed up perfectly against her white skin. "That isn't possible. No human could even dream of making such technology, unless they have broken into the secret vaults of Themyscira."

"Diana's right," Superman announced, glancing around at us. He, like the rest of them, had somehow forgotten to ask the details of the robot's escape. I was very grateful for this, even if they didn't believe me about the talking part. "No one on this planet can do anything like that right now. It was probably just static from whoever was controlling it. Now, we need to split up and find-"

"Unless it was alien." Batman's dark voice from the shadows startled all of us. I don't know about the rest of them, but I had forgotten that he was there.

"Alien?" J'onn spoke up in his thick Martian accent. "Mars had no record of a species like this anywhere in the galaxy, so it must have come from farther out."

"You believe me?" I asked with relief.

He nodded as a response, orange eyes gleaming brightly like beacons.

"That could explain the way that it hacked the military network so efficiently," Diana mused quietly.

"But how would it get up here, alien or otherwise?" Shayera pointed out, one hand planted on her hip. Her mace dangled from its leather strap.

"A Javelin, maybe?" Superman guessed.

"They're supposed to be inaccessible to outsiders," GL muttered, obviously not wanting the security system to be proved flawed. "Nothing should be able to sneak its way onboard."

"Everything has loopholes, GL," I told him with a shrug.

He frowned, but didn't say anything.

An unexpected scream suddenly rang out from down the corridor. It sounded kind of like Vixen, not that I had really ever heard her scream before. She was more of the heroic type instead of the damsel in distress.

John of course vanished in a streak of green towards the scream, since it was his girlfriend, after all. The rest of us followed quickly, me having no trouble keeping up with the rest of them.

Up ahead, Mari was on her knees, skintight costume ripped slightly on the front. She was holding it together, eyes wide against her frightened face. Several heroes and technicians were already gathered around, pointing flashlights down at her. Shayera paused beside me once she had seen that there was no blood or anything, and I thought that she looked kind of smug.

But maybe that was just a trick of the lighting.

"Mari, what happened?" John demanded quickly, putting both hands on her shoulders. His expression was really worried for her.

"My theory about flesh-eating zombies must be correct," Question muttered loudly, pulling his notebook from a pocket. He started scribbling across the pages, trying to get all of his notes down. "Or perhaps the mutant rats..."

"Some creepy robot thing attacked me," she gasped out, getting her breath back after the earth-shattering scream. Maybe she should have been an actress in horror movies instead of just a model. She definitely had the vocal chords for it. "I tried to fight it, but it had some kind of claws, and tried to go for my neck."

"Vampire?" I joked awkwardly, trying to break the thickly-layered tension.

Superman sent me a glare almost as deadly as the famed BatGlare. He and Bats actually sort of resembled each other when the Boy Scout was all scowly like that. "Which way did it go?" he asked quickly, not bothering to give her any details of the hacking.

"That way." She raised her hand and pointed off down the corridor. At the same time, the noise of something metallic scratching against something else sounded, making all of us wince. It was as bad as someone scraping their fingernails on the chalkboard.

"Come on!" Diana flew off in that direction, hair billowing dramatically over one shoulder. Superman, Shayera, and J'onn quickly followed. John reluctantly left Mari behind, shooting along with the rest of the group.

I started to move after them, but a loud buzz went off in my ear. I grimaced, starting to regret having hooked my cell phone up to my comm. link. It was getting to be a pain having telemarketers calling all the time, and Bats would have my hide if he knew. "Hello?" I asked loudly, voice gruff.

_"Wally? Just how far away is this pizza place?" _It was Linda, and she sounded pretty ticked off.

I swallowed hard, feeling my eyes widen. "Uh…hey, Linda," I said nervously. I had completely forgotten about her, to be honest.

_"Were you just trying to ditch me or something? I've been waiting for almost two hours, Wally. Are you coming back or not?"_

"Well…" My mind instantly ran over hundreds of plausible excuses in a couple of seconds. "I happened to stop by work on the way to the pizza place, and they really needed me here. So I'm staying to help for a bit. There was an accident with some weird chemicals." I was pleased to note that I sounded reasonably normal, for me.

"Diana!" I heard someone shout. There was a loud crash as something slammed into the floor, and the whole space station rocked wildly. Zatanna, who was helping Vixen up, gasped in surprise. I raced over and grabbed her arm to keep her from falling. She sent me a smile of gratitude, then wobbled away with Vixen.

_"What was that?" _Linda asked me suspiciously.

Something exploded, and I heard Shayera yell, "Keep it away from the teleporters!"

"Something just went up on one of the burners," I lied hurriedly. "Flames everywhere. I think we might have to call the fire department. See you tomorrow?"

_"Whatever, Wally." _She hung up, and the line dissolved into static. I winced, then the sound faded away automatically.

Great. Just great. Now Linda was mad at me because I had to come up here and take care of this League stuff. I was blowing her off too much lately, and I knew that she was going to get fed up with me before too long. And if she decided to break up with me, I didn't really know what I would do. She really meant a lot to me.

"Terrific, get out of the way!" The words were almost drowned out by a burst of the creepy whining like from before, when the robot had been hacking the Watchtower's computers.

It seemed that as much as I wanted to stand here and feel sorry for myself, the others needed me. So despite my problems with Linda, I still had to fulfill my position here in the League. And since I was an Original Member, I had to go lend a hand.

I sped off in the direction of all the yelling. It turned out that the noise was coming from the teleporter room, which made sense. If that robot thing wanted to get out of here with all the stolen info, that was the way to go. It couldn't exactly take over a Javelin and fly off into space, the place being in total lockdown.

As I skidded to a stop in the monitoring room, the lights flashed brightly back on. They momentarily blinded me, and I had to blink rapidly to clear away the spots that flickered everywhere. Using my super speed, it didn't take that long. _That robot must have programmed the lights to come back on after a certain amount of time, _I decided, pleased with this brilliant little deduction of mine.

As I looked back up, the robot was right there at the teleporter controls. It had its claws back out, thrust into the control box. It was chirping triumphantly, blue eyes shining extra-brightly now. I looked around urgently, and saw that no one else was really close to the robot's position. Everyone was still mid-blink, frozen by the sudden reappearance of the lights.

I made a split second decision, which I was relatively good at. I dove at the robot over the railing, even though it was half a deck below me. I held my breath, everything seeming to be in slow motion as I fell downwards. _I am so going to die. And I can't fly, either, _I happened to think. _Well. That could be a problem, I guess. _

As I continued slowly plummeting down, the robot glanced up at me. It moved out of the way, and stepped onto the teleporting pad. It seemed to almost smirk at me, then vanished in a blast of light blue energy.

"Whoa!" Time went back to its regular pace, and I twisted in mid-air. I landed pretty hard on my back on the ground. I took a deep breath, and slowly tested to make sure that all my limbs were still intact.

"Flash, are you okay?" Mr. Terrific hurried over, and was gawking down at me.

"Peachy," I managed to groan out.

"That was a stupid move," Shayera commented bluntly, frowning disapprovingly at me.

"I…noticed," I answered her dryly, getting my breath back.

"And that robot got away," Batman announced in a stormy voice. "With who knows how much of the League's files."

Everyone immediately went silent, sobering at his words.

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	6. Used Cars For Cheap

Chapter Five: Used Cars For Cheap

I stood over beside the teleporters, watching aimlessly as Steel tried to repair the damaged control box. The pesky little robot had really done a number on it, and it was impossible to even think about activating the teleportation system. The rest of the Founding Members were muttering seriously across the deck, probably discussing the Watchtower's intruder and how to increase security.

_Man, Linda is so going to kill me when I see her again, _I thought, depressed, remembering the conversation I had engaged in with my girlfriend over the comm. link. _If I ever get to see her again, that is. _I had already tried dialing her up thirteen times, when I was sure that Bats or one of the others wouldn't catch me, and she hadn't picked up her cell. She was obviously really ticked off about being abandoned at my apartment like that. I could only hope that I would be able to talk some sense into her later.

"Could you hand me that drill bit?" Steel asked me, looking up from the sparks flying off the controls as he fiddled around with some weird doohickey, which I had no idea what to call besides that. "I need to try to get in between these parts here." He thankfully spared me the long, technical explanation, and pointed to the part that he needed me to hand him.

"Sure," I mumbled distractedly, grabbing the drill bit and passing it to him.

"Thanks," he said, turning back to his work. His metal suit gleamed eerily in the flashing sparks.

"Wally?" Shayera flapped over, feathered wings casting large shadows across the floor as she landed lightly beside me. "Are you okay? John didn't hurt you with that ring blast earlier, did he?" She gave me a quick once-over.

"No, I'm fine," I assured her, rolling my eyes behind my mask. Somehow, she seemed to know that I had made the gesture. She glared at me, raising her mace threateningly. I quickly took a few steps backward, hoping that I looked apologetic.

She put the hand gripping the mace on one hip, letting the weapon dangle from its leather strap. "Then what's eating you? You aren't usually this quiet."

"Uh…nothing." I didn't particularly want to talk to her about the Linda situation, even if it was sort of her fault. If she had never told Mr. Terrific to use me against the cold crew in Central City, then I wouldn't have been at the Watchtower. And if I hadn't been at the Watchtower…well, you get the picture.

"Yeah, right." She looked annoyed. "Fine, if you don't want to tell me, then don't."

"Flash, Shayera." The Boy Scout was speaking in his quietly-angry voice. It was the one that I always pictured him using as a Justice Lord, to tell you the truth. He kind of did sound like his counterpart from that other dimension. And since he most of the time called me by my real name, I could definitely guess that something was up.

"Oh, great," my adopted big sister muttered under her breath, stalking over to join the others.

I blurred after her, feeling slightly guilty. Had Bats seen me using my official League comm. link as a cell phone in the heat of battle, after all? Had he read my mind? I had always suspected that the Dark Knight had that ability. I tried to think of something to say in my defense, but for once came up blank.

"I saw what happened in the generator room," the Man of Steel announced. "What was with that stunt you pulled? Lantern could have seriously injured you, Flash." His forehead was wrinkled as he frowned at me.

I felt speechless, nervously picturing his eyes turning red. "Uh…I was just trying to find the robot. I wasn't really thinking-"

"That's right. You weren't thinking," Batman spoke up darkly. His eyes narrowed into thin white slits behind his cowl, an expression that would make hardened criminals cry uncle.

"You should have been more careful, Wally. If I had hit you with my ring, who knows what could have happened to you," John told me quietly, looking concerned for my well-being. Jeez, who _wasn't_ worried about me these days? I might as well start carrying around a can for people to drop money into. I could definitely use the spare change, being on a barely-graduated college student's budget and all.

'_Well, excuse me for trying to stop the previously unknown creature from hacking the Watchtower or knocking it out of orbit or something.'_ That was the reply that I gave him in my mind. In reality, I just said nothing. I didn't really want to get in a fight with one of my best friends, just because I was having a royally bad day and Supes was giving me a lecture. I also hadn't had any iced mochas all day.

Sometimes, I just don't know why I get up in the mornings.

"You have to think before rushing headfirst into a situation that could turn out to be dangerous," Superman said gravely.

"But rushing into things is what I do best, remember?" I said with a touch of sarcasm in my voice.

Shayera shook her head at me, trying to signal me to shut up.

Supes leaned forward, intensity written all over his features. "When you know that your teammates are coming right behind you, and are likely to use deadly force against whatever threat it is, you should always proceed with caution."

Was it just me, or was he practically telling me the same thing over and over again? He probably thought that my wee little mind needed to have the information drilled into its feebleness in order to remember correctly. "I'll keep that in mind," I answered him tersely.

"What Superman is trying to say," Diana finally said, "is that maybe you should go back to Central City now, Flash." She, refreshingly, didn't look like she expected an asteroid to fall out of the sky and onto my head, or like she wanted to shoot me with heat vision. She was just watching Bats admiringly. Typical.

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" I was only half-joking.

"Well, you aren't technically on shift today…" J'onn said sensibly.

"But what about all the stuff going on up here?" I demanded. "I can't just leave! And how would I get home, anyway? The teleporters are down right now, remember?"

"You can take a Javelin and return it at your next shift," Blue Boy decided for me. "And we'll tell you about any developments when you come back then." His voice was firm, leaving no room for arguments.

"Fine. See you later, Shayera," I said shortly, turning on my heel and skidding out of the room towards the elevators. It was sort of childish running out like that, but I really couldn't help myself. Whenever I was on monitor duty, nothing ever happened. And when I was actually up there during the excitement, I got kicked out of the Watchtower.

I stomped into one of the elevators, pushing the button for the Javelin bay. I eyed the Creeper out of the corner of my eye as the lift started to move jerkily downwards. He was wearing that weird costume, and had the usual crazy look in his eyes. He really creeped me out sometimes, even more than Question in his fedora and trench coat.

I got out at the right level, and headed towards the row of waiting Javelins. I nodded towards Bill, the technician who controlled opening the doors and recorded who took which Javelins, and sped up the ramp of the closest spacecraft. I settled myself in the pilot's seat, and used my super speed to correctly start up the engines. Once had Bill had gotten the doors open, I blasted out of there.

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After parking the borrowed Javelin discreetly in some trees in the Central City community park, I headed back for my apartment. The door was still locked, but it was obvious when I'd opened it that Linda was gone. I growled obscenities in my head while tossing the used costume ring carelessly onto the coffee table. I bent down and started picking up empty bags of chips and empty soda cans from the floor around the couch.

_She must think I'm such a dork. Plus a jerk, one who leaves her alone for two hours when he's supposedly going out to get pizza, _I grouched mentally, glowering. My gaze drifted across the pile of car dealership brochures that had come in the mail as I stood up, arms full of trash. _I mean, I don't even have a car, since I obviously can't show her the Flash Mobile. And she hates those horror movies that I watch…_

My thoughts trailed away as something else stuck me. I felt like a light bulb had just brilliantly gone off inside my mind. Maybe if I actually had something cool, like a _car_, I could pick Linda up for dates and take her out to dinner and stuff like that. The thought brought a smile to my face, and I dropped everything out of my arms onto the rug.

I ran over to the brochures and grabbed the one on top. A very clean parking lot was shown across the cover, along with several glistening cars. They looked like they were pretty expensive. But the large words across the top of the little scene made the idea of high prices bite the dust: 'Used Cars For Cheap, Buy Now!'

"Those things don't really look that used," I mused softly to myself, moving the paper closer to my face to stare more intently. "I guess I might just check that out tomorrow between work and League stuff." I tucked the flier into my pocket and went back to cleaning up.

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Try to review…okay, everybody? Thanks in advance! :)


	7. The Witwickys

Chapter Six: The Witwickys

The next afternoon, I used the flier from my apartment to head over to the car dealership. I didn't have to be up at the Watchtower that evening until 8:00, so I had plenty of time. I followed the directions to speed across the city to the correct address, feeling excited about looking over the cars there. The flier showed pricey cars that were supposedly marked down really cheap, so that was an advantage for my wallet.

Seeing the man waving a large and rather dorky sign just up ahead, I put on the brakes and skidded to a stop. Clearing my throat and brushing at my wrinkled shirt, I glanced around furtively. No one really seemed to have noticed my sudden appearance, except for a boy of about six or so. He was gaping at me in shock.

I raised my eyebrows, pressing my lips into a line, then walked briskly up the turn-in for the car lot. Even with my first look around, it was obvious that the crumpled add in my jacket pocket had mis-advertised. This place didn't appear to be one to that would sell Corvettes, if you get my meaning. It looked nothing like the flier had shown it.

I kicked my shoe against the cement, scowling darkly in a way that would have made even Bats jealous. "Great. Just my luck," I growled under my breath. "This place is a complete dump. I came all the way over here for nothing. And Linda will still think I'm a dork. What a way to spend your free time, West. Wandering around aimlessly looking for places that are apparently not real." I stepped to the side to let a yellow car drive past me, basically ignoring it.

I turned around and started to leave before any of the car dealers could pounce on me and try to pressure me into buying something. I was already resigned with the fact that I was just going to have to take Linda out on dates in a taxi or her car, like I'd been doing.

If she had forgiven me yet, that is.

"Wallace!"

I looked up when I heard the unfamiliar voice call my name, then mentally groaned. What a coincidence. My gazillion-times-removed uncle, Ron Witwicky, just _happened_ to be here at the exact same time and place that I had decided to buy a car. He was waving urgently at me, grinning widely. His son Sam, who was a semi-related cousin of mine, was standing dejectedly beside him. As Grammy Flash would have said, he was droopier than a cornstalk on a hot summer's day.

It wasn't that I didn't like Uncle Ron. He was okay, in an older uncle-ish kind of way, though he was no Barry. No one could ever replace that uncle in my mind. But anyway, the guy was kind of…boisterous. You know the type. Always talks really loudly, like the whole world needs to know what he's saying? Yeah, that's Uncle Ron. And he always plays these stupid jokes on his son. And by the way Sammy boy was standing right now, I could tell that one was afoot now.

Just my luck.

Taking a deep breath, I sauntered over to them, glancing around at the supposedly 'pricey' car lot as I went. The further in I ventured, the worse it seemed. "Hey, guys. What's up?" I said with fake cheeriness, shoving my hands into the pockets of my jeans.

"Great, Wallace, great. How's that mother of yours doing?" Uncle Ron exclaimed.

"Uh…fine," I answered him, in a tone that was much more reserved. And GL always said that I was a clown all the time. Next to my uncle, I seemed just as serious as J'onn usually was.

"Here to buy a car?" Sam looked sullen, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Um…yeah. I was…" I trailed off. If I mentioned my true thoughts on the place, it might offend them. Because apparently, they were here to buy a car from the place.

"Why? All the cars here look like crap," Sam ground out, giving his father a sharp look.

"They do not look like crap, son," Ron said, rolling his eyes heavenward and giving me a 'what a clown my son is acting like' kind of wink. "They look like perfectly good cars to me. Especially for someone who is getting their first car."

"Whatever," Sam muttered back.

"You're just still mad because I faked you out about getting a Porsche," Ron smirked, seeming kind of smug. He gestured openly into the distance, and I followed the motion with my eyes. I could see a truly expensive car lot just beyond this one, where the merchandise looked way out of my price range. "It was just a little joke. And like I told you, no boy needs a Porsche for his very first vehicle."

"When you said that you would pay for half of the car, I thought that you meant one that actually _drove_," Sam said sarcastically. "Besides, what if I had _wanted_ a Porsche for my first car?"

Ah, so that explained it. This little family squabble was about Ron making Sam think he was getting a Porsche instead of something from this place. I could see why this would make my distant cousin slightly annoyed.

"Don't forget, Sam," Ron announced importantly. "No sacrifice, no-"

"-No victory," Sam finished. "I know, Dad, I know. The old family motto. But this is important stuff. It actually concerns a _car_, not some stuffy old guy digging around in the Arctic."

Hmmm, I'd almost forgotten about the famous Witwicky motto. It was sort of interesting, but not something that I would really care about. The only motto that my side of the family seemed to have was…'lots of people keep getting speed powers after being struck by lightning'. Though that one was sort of a secret from most of the family, so they didn't really know that it was the family motto.

"Why, hi there, folks!" A dark-skinned man came rushing out towards us, the predictable car salesman grin in place. His teeth shone out neonly against his skin, and he was wearing some kind of yellow and black garb. It was obvious that he worked here. And his eyes held the look that I imagined the eyes of sharks did when they locked in on prey. "I'm Bobby Bolivia." He quickly extended a hand to each of us, and briskly pumped it up and down. "Like the country." He winked. "What can I do for all of you?" His bright gaze shifted back and forth across our faces.

I shifted from foot to foot. "Uh…I'm just kind of hanging out with them right now," I said, trying to squeeze my way out of buying anything. I could only hope that it would work. Guys trying to sell you a car were usually more persistent than Booster Gold talking about how awesome he was.

The man looked disappointed for the briefest of seconds, then whipped his eyes back to Ron. "What about you, fine sir?"

"Well, my son here is gonna buy his first car." Ron looked proud, except for the slight snicker that he emitted at the look on his son's face.

Bobby pounded a hand against his chest, a pleasantly surprised look across his features. "And you came to me?"

"Yeah," Sam mumbled reluctantly, giving his dad a slightly pointed look.

Bobby fairly beamed. "Then call me Uncle Bobby B., because we're family now!" He pounded Sam across the back, and the poor guy staggered a little under the weight.

"Sure, right." Sam scowled again.

I raised my eyebrows, settling in to watch the scene play out. This could definitely prove to be interesting. Maybe it really was a good thing that I had come over here today. I could have a front row seat to the drama of Sam Witwicky trying to get his first car. I ran a hand through my hair, feeling it sticking up from my skull. There didn't appear to be too many selections that a seventeen-year-old high school student would approve of, but maybe that was just my opinion.

'Uncle Bobby B.' began striding purposefully across the parking lot, one arm draped in a friendly way over Sam's shoulders. "Okay, kid. There's one really important thing that you need to know before you start trying to pick something out," he said with all seriousness. "The driver doesn't pick the car. The car…" He paused to increase the drama a little, "…picks the driver. It's a mystical bond between man and machine."

Sam nodded, as though he understood. From my point of view, his eyes seemed kind of glazed over.

Ron pounded me on the back, and I only jumped about a foot into the air. "This guy's one of the best car salesmen," he told me happily, in a somewhat monotone. "If he can't sell us a car, no one can." He gave me a studying look. "You sure you aren't gonna buy one for yourself while you're here, Wally?"

I felt my expression grow dubious. "No thanks, Uncle Ron. I'm good. I've sort of got a back-up car for work," I thought briefly of the Flash Mobile, "and I can take a taxi everywhere else."

Ron shrugged. "Your loss, kid. Whatever floats your boat."

"For instance, this car seems to be wanting to pick you, son." Bobby B. gestured towards a gray-ish four-door car that looked like it had seen better days. One of the doors was sagging weakly, and all four of the tires looked like they needed to be aired up, seeming a bit flat.

"It looks just like the first car I ever had," Ron mused fondly, stroking his chin. His eyes stared off into the distance as he reminisced on days gone past.

"Well…" Sam looked around furtively.

"Huh, looks like the perfect car for my cousin," I declared with a straight face, enjoying the pained look Sam sent me. I couldn't help it; I was enjoying his torture. It made for a fun way to spend the afternoon.

"Shut up, _Wally_," Sam hissed over at me, narrowing his eyes threateningly.

I pretended not to notice, casually clasping my hands behind my back and strolling around the back of the car. I half-heartedly checked out the one parked next to it. It was one of the best ones there, faded yellow with black racing stripes along the hood and rear trunk. It sure beat some of its neighbors. But for some reason, it looked sort of familiar to me. I couldn't really put my finger on it…

"Hey, look at this one, Sam," I called over my shoulder, trying to atone myself with my younger cousin. "You might like this one." I would have almost bought it myself, if the racing stripes had been red instead of black. Or maybe if the whole car had been red, with yellow lightning bolts painted on.

Sam strolled over, head drooping. His eyes seemed to brighten a little as he saw the car in question. "It's got racing stripes," he said, tone slightly hopeful. He ran his hand across the smooth yellow paint over one side, then crossed his arms across his chest.

"Yeah. Yeah, it does." Bobby B. seemed confused, and started muttering under his breath. "What the heck is this? I never bought this car." He looked down at the car with intense scrutiny, as though this would force the vehicle to reveal its own secrets.

I turned and watched Sam stick his head inside the open window, peering curiously inside. This was the most interest he'd shown since I'd gotten there.

"Billy! Billy!" Bobby B. shouted, leaning around another car to peer towards the building. "Just a moment, folks." He flashed us another award-winning grin, then strode purposefully towards the building. "Billy, where'd this car come from?"

A man holding a greasy rag popped out, speaking animatedly in a foreign language. It sounded like Spanish, but I couldn't be sure; I'd slept through most of that class in high school.

"So, have any luck selling the glasses?" Sam clicked open the car door and leaned further inside to check it out.

I glanced over at Ron to see what his response would be, but he didn't say anything.

"Uh, Wally? The glasses?" He swung one leg inside and sat down in the driver's seat. "Feels good," he mumbled to himself, rubbing his thumbs over the steering wheel.

"Huh? Me?" I pointed a finger at my chest to see if he indeed meant yours truly.

"Yeah." Sam shook his head. "You know, great-great-grandpappy Archibald Witwicky? The glasses left from his expedition into the Arctic? I gave them to you at the family reunion last summer."

I instantly searched my memory, and happened to come across the family reunion last summer, which my mom had dragged me to against my will. Now that I thought about it, I could remember the cracked set of really old glasses that Sam had given me. He'd wanted me to try to sell them for him on E-Bay, since he hadn't really had much luck getting any kids from school to buy them.

"Oh, _that's_ right!" I snapped my fingers, nodding to show that I finally understood. For the Fastest Man Alive, I could sometimes be a little slow on the uptake. "Uh…no luck so far. No one's expressed any interest in them yet." It was only a little white lie. I didn't want him to know that the glasses were currently buried under a pile of junk on my nightstand, nowhere near to having a picture of them uploaded onto E-Bay.

The car made a weird clicking sound, but no one besides me seemed to really notice it. I warily took a step away, in case it decided to spontaneously combust.

"Oh. Too bad." Sam shrugged. "I guess I could see why nobody wants them. They're junk, all cracked and broken."

"Sam, don't say that about a family heirloom," Ron chastened.

"Okay, I'll just _think_ it, Dad."

Bobby B. came hustling back, seeming calm and collected. He patted the hood of the car with a metallic-sounding thump. His expression seemed calculating, as though considering how much money he could crank out of such a cheap car.

"How much?" Ron wanted to know.

"Well…consider it a semi-classic vehicle. Slick wheels, a custom paintjob-"

"Yeah, but the paint's _faded_," Sam protested.

"But it's _custom_," Bobby B. replied, bending down to look in the other window at him.

"It's custom faded?" Sam asked skeptically.

"It's your first car. I wouldn't expect you to understand." Bobby. B straightened back up, smoothing his shirt absently. "Five grand," he declared.

"Nope, not payin' over four," Uncle Ron told him, shaking his head.

I folded both arms over my chest. This little debate had the potential to get interesting, if not violent.

"Sorry, then." Bobby B. jerked a thumb towards Sam. "Get out of the car, son."

"But, I-"

"Get on out, son." The salesman strode over to a neighboring car, which looked like one of the oldest ones in the lot. "Now this baby's a good one."

"But, Dad. I want this car," Sam bemoaned, clutching to the steering wheel and not moving an inch.

"We're not paying over four grand, Sam," Ron repeated. "So go ahead and get out of there."

"No, Dad. I-"

A sudden burst of loud music interrupted him. The whole car started shaking, and it moved from side to side in the parking spot. I took a step back, using just a little bit too much of my speed. Luckily, none of the others seemed to notice.

"Whoaaaaa!" Sam tumbled out of the car and landed on his hands and knees, just as a loud whirring sound exploded from the yellow car. All the glass from every car in the parking lot exploded outward, shattering into the sky. It rained down onto all of us, and the sound burned my eardrums. A couple of car alarms began blaring.

Something suddenly grabbed me around the waist, and yanked me towards the open door of the car. I frantically looked down, imagination covering everything from an angry Linda capturing me with her purse strap to that pesky robot from the Watchtower before my eyes sighted the actual trouble. A seatbelt had somehow unwound itself and was now reeling me in.

I shoved against it with both of my hands, trying to get free, but it was pretty useless. I strained and used all of my strength, which wasn't very much, but nothing happened. It didn't even budge. I glanced over my shoulder at my stunned relatives and Bobby B., knowing that I couldn't use my speed to get away with them gawking at me.

My body slammed into the side of the car with a loud crash, and I shook my head groggily. The belt loosened itself a little, so I could at least breathe some now.

"What the heck…?" Ron was staring at me in shock.

Sam pushed himself to his feet. "Okay, I changed my mind. I don't _really_ want that car."

Bobby B., who was staring at me as I stood entangled in the elongated seatbelt, quickly snapped back into business. "What do you mean, you don't want it? I'll give it to you for four thousand!" He weakly waved four fingers at Ron and Sam, staring around in horror at the damage to his car lot.

"We'd like to look at another car. Maybe that one…" Ron gestured towards an Oldsmobile, which was parked a few rows over.

"I just want this car out of my lot. One of you has to buy it!"

"No, thanks." Ron shook his head with finality.

"Then you, son! What's your name?" Bobby B. sprang towards me now, hopelessness in his eyes.

I squirmed, starting to feel a little uncomfortable where I was trapped against the side of the car. "Wally West," I answered, brow creasing.

"Then I offer this car to you for a mere four grand, a remarkable price!"

"I, um…"

"Take it!" He almost seemed to be begging me. "Three grand, son, three grand!"

I shrugged, thinking this over for half a second. The car wasn't too bad, and I could always get a new paint job like I had been imagining at a later date. I probably wouldn't get a car for a better price anywhere else.

"Okay, fine. I'll take it," I agreed. The restraining seatbelt instantly released me, limply hanging to the ground. I hastily stepped out of the loop, moving as fast as I could without raising any suspicions.

Sam patted me on one shoulder, smirking. "Well, Wally, it looks like that car has picked its driver." He brushed a sparkling shard of glass from his t-shirt.

I heaved a sigh. "Lucky me."

**

* * *

**

Okay, guys. MY motto is not the West family motto _or_ the Witwicky family motto. It is as follows...no reviews, no update. ;) Get it? So please review!


	8. Monitoring Duty and Banana Peels

Chapter Seven: Monitoring Duty and Banana Peels

I pulled into the parking lot of my apartment building, easing into a space. I quickly set my new car in park and turned the engine off. With a sigh, I leaned back into the faded leather seat. A little bumblebee thing was hanging from the rearview mirror, and glittered in the fading sunlight.

Well, I had a new car now. A bright yellow one with black racing stripes. One that tended to attack those of the West and Witwicky clans, and fired loud blasts that shattered all windshields in the near vicinity. I eyed the weird design carved into the steering wheel. Maybe I had purchased myself an alien car.

Hey, I could hope, couldn't I?

I opened the door, and it creaked loudly. I climbed out, then gently closed it with one foot and pocketed the keys. Stepping back to study my new car further, I decided that a new paintjob was definitely in order. Red with yellow racing stripes, maybe. That would have been better than the outrageous yellow coat, which was 'custom faded'. Or so Bobby B. from the car dealership had proclaimed it.

I walked up the sidewalk, then up the metallic staircase leading to my floor. I avoided the banana peel resting conveniently on one step, which had undoubtedly been left there by Dwight Bloome, the bratty kid one door down from me. He enjoyed trying to find ways to mess with me, such as making me trip and plummet down the stairs to my certain death. It had actually succeeded one night, after I had stumbled home from a fight with several League baddies. Let's just say that I had forgotten about the usual banana peel prank, and had gone skidding back down the stairs again. Ouch.

Reaching my door, I pulled out my keys and located the correct one. The ring of keys rattled loudly as I poked the right one into the keyhole. Just as I twisted it, I heard the extra-creaky door down the hall start opening. Mrs. Parkenson, the nosy landlady, lived there, and she was more than likely coming to give me the third degree. Rent was due this month, after all.

Reacting instantly, I shoved the door open, leapt inside, and slammed it again. I threw both deadlocks, then leaned against the door with relief. I'd managed to avoid her just in time. I didn't really have time for her twenty questions right now. There was only one hour until I had monitor duty up at the Watchtower, and I still needed to get ready. I preferably would get to down a few pizzas, too. Hopefully I still had several dozen frozen ones up in the freezer.

I walked over to the answering machine, staring down at it thoughtfully. The little light wasn't blinking a cheery red, which ultimately meant that I had no new messages. It also meant that Linda hadn't called. Thus, _this_ meant that she was still ticked off at me. Not good.

I picked up the phone, quickly dialing her cell. I tapped the fingers of my free hand impatiently against the counter, waiting for her to answer. I was disappointed when, after six rings, the phone went straight to voicemail. "Uh…hey, Linda. I'm really sorry about yesterday, and I wanted to apologize. Maybe we can go out for dinner sometime, though not tonight. I kinda have to work pretty late, so maybe we could get together tomorrow? I bought a new car, so we could take it out for a change, instead of a taxi or your car. Um…not that there's anything wrong with your car. I just thought that I should get one, and I could actually drive once in a while. And not that there's anything wrong with you driving either, but I think-"

Her voicemail cut me off with an annoyingly shrill beep.

I heaved a sigh, slamming the phone back onto the hook. Great. That had gone well. Instead of the gushingly romantic message I had been going for, she had received one that made me sound pretty much insane. I was _so_ sure that it would make her want to pick up the phone and call me back, at least for kicks. She could at least have the thrill of telling all her friends that she had a crazy boyfriend that was headed straight for Arkham.

Running a hand through my hair, I turned and headed for the bathroom. It had been a pretty warm day for Central City at this time of year, and the incident with the possessed car had had me sweating a little. I really needed a cold shower before heading up to monitor duty. Maybe it would make me feel a little better, after the rough day I was having.

Closing the door with a soft click, I stripped off then climbed into the shower. It took several tries to make the rusty knobs turn, and I mentally vowed that I would buy some new ones at the Home Depot across town. Mrs. Parkenson sure wasn't going to do anything about it.

When I finally got the water working, I let the water rush over me. I scrubbed my hair until it was dripping into my eyes, humming that Rascal Flatts song about the cars. I never would have done that had Linda been over, since even my humming was slightly off-key, but I didn't currently have anybody staying at my house. No need to repress my natural humming talents.

Finally turning off the shower, which took more effort than it was probably worth, I climbed out. Water instantly pooled around my feet on the white tile as I wrapped a towel around my waist. I definitely felt better. The next step on my list was to get dressed, then scarf down some much-needed food. I was just about starving to death, especially after that creepy encounter with the strangling seatbelt of my new car that afternoon.

I pushed open the door of the bathroom, thinking over florists who might be open at this time of night. Maybe I could send twelve dozen red roses over to Linda's apartment. Or would that be overkill? She might think that I was trying to suck up to her, which was sort of what I _was_ doing. Or would she completely love the flowers, and call me back immediately? Why the heck did women have to be so hard to figure out, anyway?

I stumbled into the hallway, mind still drifting on ideas about various flowers, then froze. I felt my mouth drop open in shock, and a warm blush covered my cheeks. I mentally cursed being a redhead, which usually caused me to blush easily, and gawked at my couch. None other than Shayera and John were relaxed there, staring back at me. They had been looked annoyed with each other, but now they shared a look of amusement.

"Uh…this may sound stupid, but why are you two in my living room?" I blurted out, trying not to seem embarrassed that I standing in before them in nothing but a towel.

"The real question is, why were you singing _Life Is A Highway_ in your shower?" Shayera asked bluntly, smirking at me.

"I wasn't singing, I was humming," I corrected her. "And you know that song?"

"Of course I do." She said this like it was the most obvious thing in the world, still looking like she might burst out laughing at any moment. Well, no one could ever say that she didn't at least act like my big sister.

"We're here to pick you up for monitoring duty," GL told me, a serious look on his face. I could tell that he was covering up his own smirk, though much better than Shayera's attempts. "The teleporting systems are still down. Atom and Steel are trying to fix it, but it could be a while. So Batman sent us down to give you a ride in one of the Javelins."

Poor decision on Bats' part. Who would think of putting these two together in a closed space, where they could only start fighting? The only thing worse would have been if Mari had come along with the two of them.

"Oh," I muttered, still feeling heat spreading across my cheeks. There didn't seem to be anything I could do about it. "So I have to go up _now_?" There was still half an hour before my shift started. Besides, I hadn't even eaten yet.

"We have to start a few minutes early to reach the Watchtower on time, Wally," GL told me pointedly. "Unless you want to explain to J'onn or Batman why you were late." He cocked one eyebrow at me.

"Right. That's a good idea, John," I answered him quickly, getting the idea. I could always grab a quick snack up at the Tower's cafeteria, if worse came to worse. And it probably would, seeing how hungry I already was. "But I already have a Javelin over in the Central City park. Couldn't I just come up in that?"

"We're going to leave it down here in case anyone in the near vicinity needs it to get up to the Watchtower," John replied. "If not, someone will pick it up tomorrow."

"Uh…okay, I guess."

"Get dressed before we head up. Or everyone will start calling you the Streak instead of the Flash," Shayera joked.

"Ha, ha. That's hilarious, Shayera. Have you met my Uncle Ron Witwicky by any chance?" I grumbled sarcastically at her, scowling. I was starting to see how Sam felt.

"Hey, what happened to you?" She pointed worriedly, and I looked down in the direction of her gesture. There was a faint red mark around my waist, which barely stood out against my pale skin. I instantly knew that it was from the seatbelt incident, and suppressed a shudder.

I wondered if I would have nightmares about my new car.

"You don't want to know," I told her firmly, wondering how long I was going to have to stand here before they let me go get some clothes on.

"What happened? You're _supposed_ to mention it if a thug ambushes you with a crowbar," GL said sternly, brow furrowing with some concern.

I rolled my eyes. The mark looked nothing like the shape of a crowbar. And how exactly did he think that some common thug could whack me with something, when I was the Fastest Man Alive? "Actually, that's not what happened," I replied.

"Then what _did_ happen?" Shayera wanted to know, still looking worried for my well-being. What was it with her and everyone else freaking out about every little thing that happened to me? They all seemed to be waiting for the Lords dimension to happen, or something.

Growing steadily more uncomfortable with both of them just staring at me, I raced into my bedroom, which was just down the hall. Not bothering to shut the door, I shed my towel and whipped into a spare Flash costume in about three or four seconds. Then I leapt back out to join them, leaving my cowl down. "It was my car," I announced, as though I'd never even left.

"You don't have a car, hot shot," John declared dubiously, obviously forgetting about the Flash Mobile. Apparently, he chose to block painful memories like that out. He hadn't particularly cared for my idea of going on a road trip, when I had proposed it a few years back.

"Yes I do. I bought it today." I crossed my arms over my chest, feeling just a little bit smug. It was really cool to say that. And once I got my new paintjob done, it would be even cooler. Maybe someone else would want to go on a road trip with me now, just two or three hardworking heroes traveling to see America. I could already see it in my head; it would be a total blast!

"But what did your car do?" Shayera demanded incredulously, feathered wings shifting a little from where they protruded out of her back. "Bite you?"

"Actually, it tried to strangle me with a seatbelt," I proclaimed proudly. My car totally rocked. No one would dare try to steal it, that's for sure. "While I was pinned up against the side of it, struggling wildly," I added that part in to increase the drama of my tale, "the weird car salesmen practically begged me to take it for just three grand."

Shayera's expression showed that she wasn't exactly convinced of the truth of my story. "Only you would manage to be strangled by your seatbelt, Wally," she mentioned, rolling her eyes.

"It was a lot more dramatic than it sounds," I assured them importantly.

"Right," John voiced, getting to his feet. "Let's get going."

"Okay," I said reluctantly, stomach growling insistently. If the cafeteria was out of iced mochas again, I was going to be seriously annoyed. "But please tell me that you didn't just leave the Javelin out in the parking lot. I have a secret identity to maintain, you know."

"Don't be ridiculous," Shayera scoffed. "It's on the roof."

* * *

The three of us headed into the control room as soon as we got up to the Watchtower. The trip up hadn't been very pleasant, in my personal opinion. GL had been dangerously silent the entire time, Shayera had been making too-obvious jabs about Vixen, and I had been cracking nervous jokes the whole time. As my Grammy Flash would have said, you could have cut the tension with a knife.

J'onn and Mr. Terrific were both running the main computers today, though it sort of looked like they were having a slow day. Our friendly neighborhood Martian was observing a mission with Supergirl and Stargirl, while T. was working on a crossword puzzle.

"Hey, guys," I greeted them, glad to see other human life beside Shay and John. That meant that I had survived the Javelin trip without one of them taking a swing at the other and accidentally hitting me. I wasn't exactly sure who would win that fight, but it would _not_ be fun to try to find out.

"Thank you for arriving early, Flash," J'onn told me, bobbing his head once. He didn't turn away from the computer as he spoke. "It isn't very convenient for the teleporting systems to be down, I'm afraid."

"Hi, Flash. Do you have a twelve-letter word for a personal characteristic or behavior that is peculiar or out of the ordinary?" Michael asked absently, staring at his computer screen musingly.

I blinked once. "Peculiar or out of the ordinary? I have an eleven-letter _phrase_ for you." I paused dramatically, clearing my throat. "The Question!"

Shayera snorted. "Only you would think of something like that, Wally," she declared, rolling her eyes.

"Thank you. I'll take that as a compliment," I told her, grinning widely.

"I…don't think that's the phrase that I'm looking for," Terrific murmured thoughtfully. He rubbed his chin with one hand, then his dark eyes brightened. "Ah, that's it! Idiosyncrasy! Why didn't I think of it before?" His fingers moved frantically across the keyboard.

"Uh…right. Sure. Just what I was going to say myself, actually," I said unconvincingly. I leaned towards GL, covering the side of my mouth with one hand. "Is that even a real word?"

He cocked one eyebrow at me. "I'm pretty sure that it is, Wally," he answered me at his normal volume, not bothering to lower his voice.

Diana suddenly appeared over the edge of the balcony, hovering in the air. "Don't forget about the Foundering Members meeting in about five minutes," she told my supposedly good friends, John and Shayera. "Batman just sent me to remind you."

I turned to them with what I hoped was a betrayed look hovering in my eyes. I felt like ripping my mask off to make the expression more dramatic, but I didn't think it worth all the effort. Maybe they could see the pure agony through my eye covers. "I thought you were my _friends_!" I cried with anguish. "You said that you wanted to get me up here early to avoid the wrath of the Bat, not attend a _meeting_! Who would sentence me to such _torture_?" My stomach rumbled hungrily, and I scowled darkly at them, conjuring my inner Dark Knight. I _still_ hadn't eaten yet, which would make the meeting even more torturous than usual.

"It was obvious that we were going to have a meeting, Wally," Shayera told me, planting one hand on her hip. "We have to discuss what happened yesterday, remember?"

John patted me on the shoulder. "Don't worry. It shouldn't be very long," he added in a solemn voice, though I could tell by the expression on his face that he was laughing at me on the inside.

"Yeah, right. If this meeting is short and to the point, then Bats isn't scary." I narrowed my eyes at him, to further get the point across.

Shayera laughed at me, using no means to conceal her amusement. "Don't be such a baby," she snickered. "One who sings Rascal Flatts in the shower, I might add."

She was going to use that for blackmail, wasn't she? I gritted my teeth together, and felt my face heat up. I was very glad for my mask now. At least it covered up most of the incriminating evidence. I leaned close to her so my voice wouldn't carry very far, ignoring the curious look that Mr. T. was giving me. "Mention that again, and I will pluck out all your feathers one by one," I growled dangerously.

This time, it was Wondy who laughed. "Oh, Wally. You're definitely original, that's for sure." She turned her gaze back to Shayera and GL. "We'd better get up to the meeting room. You too, J'onn."

"You will have to take control of this mission until I return," J'onn intoned to his partner solemnly.

Terrific saved his online crossword puzzle, minimizing it. "Sure, J'onn. No problem." He moved over to J'onn's place, switching his comm. link to the frequency being used on the mission. He intently studied the screen, watching Kara and Courtney carefully.

Shayera flapped her wings, rising into the air, then looked back at me pointedly. The others also hovered beside her, waiting for me to follow them.

I took a slow step backwards, hoping to blend into the wall. I squeezed my eyes closed, hoping to use the philosophy of the ostriches. Maybe if I couldn't see her, she couldn't see me. Too bad Question thought that potted plants spread cancer. If we had a few handy pots scattered around, they would be great for times like this, to hide behind.

"Wallace Rudolph West," she said in a low and menacing voice. "You get over here right now, before I send Batman after you."

I opened my eyes grudgingly, staring at her with an accusing look. "How did you find out my middle name?" I demanded, with some embarrassment. It was a sore subject for me. When I had been younger, kids in school had called me Red-Nose all the time, because of my middle name. No matter how many times I had told them, they had refused to believe that I was named after my dad, and not Santa's favorite reindeer.

"Batman," was all that she said, though it made things perfectly clear.

I sighed, then blurred over to her and the others. "Let's get this over with," I muttered unenthusiastically.

* * *

When J'onn, Diana, GL, Shayera, and I all arrived at the Founders' meeting room, the one that no one besides the seven of us was allowed to even see, Supes and Bats were both waiting. Bruce was sitting silently, while Clark was chattering on about something to do with his parents' wheat and corn crops.

"It's about time," Batman uttered darkly, interrupting Supes mid-sentence. His face showed no emotions, other than a touch of impatience, so I couldn't tell if he had been dying of boredom while the Boy Scout had been talking. I suspected that he had been, because that's what I would have been doing, had I been in the situation.

"Let's get started," Superman said brightly, not seeming annoyed that he had been cut off while talking.

Diana immediately hurried over to sit by Bats, almost running to beat the rest of us there. I don't really know why the two of them think they're being so secretive about their relationship; it's almost painfully obvious to the rest of us.

The rest of us sat down in the four remaining seats, John and Shayera on each side of me. J'onn sat over between Diana and Supes.

"What happened yesterday can't be allowed to happen again," Superman began, not wasting any time on talking over what exactly _had_ happened. He leaned forward across the table, trying to meet all of our eyes as he spoke. I shifted awkwardly when he turned his intense baby blues towards me. "We need to increase our security. Whether that creature that hacked our systems came through the teleporter or hitched a ride on a Javelin, we apparently didn't have enough security in place to prevent its breach. Who knows if this could happen again?"

I suppressed a weary sigh, staring down at the tabletop before me. Someone had written 'I rock!' in very small letters there, using a faint red ink. Maybe this room wasn't as secure as we all thought it was. Apparently, someone had been able to break in and graffiti our official meeting table. Then I realized that it was my handwriting that I was staring at, and felt a flash of horror. _I_ had graffitied that official meeting table in a moment of boredom! Bats would totally _kill_ me!

I quickly tore my gaze from the tiny writing, focusing it on a different part of the table. If Bats were keeping an eye on me, which he usually did during meetings, then I would be leading him right to the evidence. That wouldn't be good, believe me.

My sharp gaze then caught sight of a small silver paperclip. It was abandoned just a couple inches from my hand. I quickly grabbed it, moving so fast that I was pretty sure even the fearsome Bat couldn't see me. Folding both of my hands demurely in my lap, I started twisting the innocent paperclip into different shapes. I had found that this kind of silent activity worked well for defeating boredom, while not getting me in trouble with any of the others. They never even noticed that I wasn't paying any attention; I could probably fall asleep without them noticing.

"…how much information the hacker took from our systems?" Diana was saying when I tuned back into the conversation. She was also leaning forward, her brow wrinkled prettily.

"Terrific hasn't been able to figure it out," John answered her, shaking his head. "That thing, whatever it was, covered its tracks almost too well. We can't tell what systems it got into, and we can't tell what information it copied and took with it."

I yawned, leaning back in my chair. The paperclip, now utterly boring, fell from my grasp. It made a small clinking sound against the tile, but no one else really seemed to notice.

"What was it after?" Shayera mumbled, shifting in her seat. "It must have been important; it seemed really determined to get into our systems."

"It had no mind, that I could sense," J'onn murmured, alien eyes gleaming brightly.

"So there's really no way to trace it," Superman mused, crossing his arms across his chest.

"I doubt that we'll get the information that was stolen back," Shayera declared pessimistically.

How long had we been sitting here? It felt like it had been hours. My stomach was eating itself by now, I was sure.

"I am afraid that I must agree," J'onn said in his thick accent. "We will only have to hope that it was nothing very important."

"What if it was plans of the Watchtower? That robot could lead people who are against us right into the Tower," GL spoke up suddenly, as the thought occurred to him. "Luthor could bring a bunch of people up here."

"I seriously doubt that Lex has the technology to create that robot," Supes said dubiously, for once not jumping onto the theory of Lex being behind everything that he could think of. "Maybe CADMUS, but definitely not LexCorp."

"We just have more questions, no answers," Batman snapped abruptly, cutting his old buddy off. "We're not getting anywhere." He roughly pushed his chair back, getting to his feet. "This meeting is over." He turned and strode from the room, cape swirling behind him.

"He must be in a bad mood today, for him," Shayera noted, raising both eyebrows as she watched him go.

I squirmed in my seat, waiting for them to hurry up and finishing officially wrapping up the meeting.

"Apparently," Diana answered softly, a calculating expression on her face as she stared in the direction that Bats had gone.

"Well, I think this meeting is finished," Supes said, shrugging in a slightly amused manner. I guess he was used to the Dark Knight's cranky behavior by now. He started to push back his chair.

Halleluiah. It was over. I could go _eat_ something now, instead of wasting away in that stupid leather chair for all of eternity. I wasted no time rushing out the door and into the corridor, not stopping to chat with them all. I had an important mission in mind.

Running weakly through the winding hallways, stomach growling fiercely at me, I narrowly avoided crashing into Question and the Crimson Avenger. The two were intently examining the wall, and I heard them mention something about mutant termites eating through the metal as I passed.

Finally reaching my destination, I staggered into the cafeteria, hoping that I could scrounge up some food in there. I was practically _dying_ with hunger, and I didn't think I could go much longer without some type of nourishment. The food wasn't always the best up here in the Watchtower, but at least they had iced mochas. That was always a good thing, in my book.

I grabbed a tray of hamburgers and fries, though they were all slightly cold, and added several paper cups of my favorite drink. Then I hurriedly took the table in the far corner, behind the trashcans. Perhaps I could hide here for the rest of the night, then just go home when my time was up. It was a hopeful thought.

"Wally." Elongated Man appeared beside my table, and I slowly lifted my head to look at him. "Is it true that some kind of unknown creature attacked the Tower yesterday? I wasn't up here, so I missed it." He dropped his tray with a small clatter beside mine, then pulled up a seat. Taking a bite of his own hamburger, he waited expectantly.

I heaved a sigh.

* * *

"Bye, Wally. See you later, okay?" Shayera waved at me from her front passenger seat of the Javelin. Why she sat directly besides GL when she was ticked off at him made absolutely no sense to me.

"The teleporters should be fixed tomorrow, so you can just call to be picked up," John told me curtly, keeping his gaze focused away from Shayera.

I nodded once, blinking groggily. It was all I could do stay awake right now; it was after midnight, and I was dead tired. I felt like I was about to pass out and fall down the ramp of the Javelin. I didn't even have enough energy to think of the possibility that my two friends might kill each other on the way back to the Watchtower.

"See you tomorrow," I mumbled to them, yawning. At least they wouldn't have to come pick me up in the morning, like they had earlier. "And by the way, next time you want to drop by for a visit, call me." I walked drunkenly down the ramp, the door sliding closed to block out their laughter at my expense.

I was going to install better locks in the morning, made specifically to keep out certain hawkpeople and Green Lanterns.

I waited until the Javelin blasted off from the rooftop, then staggered over to the edge of the roof. Peering down into the parking lot, I could see that my new car was still safely parked in the same place. It would really suck if someone stole it now, after I had just gotten it.

I located the trapdoor leading back into the building, then slipped through it. I was really tired, but I managed to keep to the shadows in case anybody came out of their apartment. I doubted that anyone was up at this time of night, but I was careful nonetheless. It wouldn't work too well for my secret identity if they saw the Flash heading into my apartment.

I didn't see it until it was too late. The banana peel contacted with the bottom of my boot, and both of my feet went flying out from under me. My arms flapping at my sides frantically, I plummeted down the metal steps, conking my head against one of them. I landed on my back at the bottom of the three flights of metallic steps.

Groaning, I looked up at the stairs again, then let my head fall back against the concrete. I felt relatively dead now, aching all over. And I was pretty sure that my costume had been torn. These things weren't cheap; they didn't just come from the costume shop, you know.

I was glad that it was dark out when I heard Dwight Bloome shout loudly, at the top of his lungs, "Mom, I got Wally to fall down the stairs again!"

Wonderful.

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Review, got that? Great. ;D


	9. Attack of the Car Thieves

Chapter Eight: Attack of the Car Thieves

When I jolted awake, my apartment was still dark. For a minute, I was disorientated, trying to figure out exactly where I was, then groggily realized that I was sprawled out on my couch. After the incident with the stupid Bloome kid, I had torn off my costume, pulled on some regular clothes, and fallen onto the nearest piece of furniture. I was thankful that it had been the couch, and not something hard, like the kitchen table or the bathtub.

Heaving myself into a sitting position, I ran one hand through my hair. The luminous numbers on my alarm clock, which rested on the coffee table, reported that it was just after four in the morning. I'd gotten home just about four hours ago, which hadn't given me nearly enough time to sleep. I always had to rest up after Founders' meetings, as they drained away all my brain tissue and left me brain-dead with boredom. So why had I woken up again so soon?

_Don't tell me that Dwight ambushed my door with tomatoes again, _I thought with annoyance, as this was usually the only reason for me waking up at odd hours of the night, besides League stuff. That kid seemed to never go to sleep, staying up until the wee morning hours to ambush me with various fruits and vegetables. And I'd just scrubbed off my door three days ago, after the landlady's complaining. She had blamed me for the tomato stains on my door, even when I had pleaded my innocence. She, like every other soul in the building, considered Dwight Bloome to be a complete angel. I was the only one not blind to his twisted crimes.

I stumbled to my feet, planning to head to the door. I was going to need to get some kind of attack cat to guard the place for me. Maybe it could try to claw the pest's eyes out, and then he'd leave me alone. Cackling mentally at this thought, I threw open the door. "Hey, Bloome! Leave my door a…lone?" I trailed off in surprise when I saw that the hallway outside my apartment was completely empty. Interesting. Either he had inherited my speed powers somehow, or he hadn't even been there in the first place. So what had actually woken me up?

The sound of a very familiar engine roared from down in the parking lot, rumbling loudly. Who was going somewhere at this time of the night? It wasn't even light out, for Pete's sake. I turned to go back into my apartment, when a horrifying thought suddenly struck me. What if this person was out so late because they were up to no good? No good like stealing someone's brand-new car?

I streaked over to the metal railing, forgetting all about trying to hide my secret identity. I peered frantically down into the parking lot, eyes automatically darting towards where I had parked my car. I took in the empty slot, which showed no trace of having ever been occupied by any vehicle.

My new car was _gone_!

Without stopping to think it through, I took off down the stairs, heedless of any banana peels that might have been menacingly lying in wait for me. I wasn't about to let someone steal my car. I was the Flash, for Pete's sake, the Fastest Man Alive! Surely a car thief couldn't manage to get away with my car if I were chasing them. What would Arrow say if he knew? He would probably laugh at me, then spread the word across the entire Watchtower.

I would be the laughingstock of the League, more so than usual.

"_Flash?"_ J'onn's voice unexpectedly piped up out of my comm. link, which I had apparently forgotten to take out of my ear. I jumped in surprise, tripping over my feet and nearly crashing into the back of one of the only cars that was traveling through Central City so late at night. _"Are you alright? Your comm. signal is suddenly moving at an alarming rate, when I assumed that you were sleeping."_

"Are you spying on me again, J'onn?" I demanded. I sometimes suspected that those on duty late at night kept tabs on other Leaguers, to give them something to do.

"_No, I was merely concerned for your well-being," _the Martin retorted indignantly. _"Is there a criminal on the loose in Central City? Do you require assistance?"_

I dodged another car, still racing in the direction that I thought the car thieves were taking my car. I could see a bright yellow something shooting under a bridge up ahead, signaling that I was probably on the right track. I could have run faster and immediately caught up, but I knew that if I went too fast, I would cause a dangerous whirlwind effect behind me. I usually tried my best to abide by the city's speed limit. "Actually, J'onn, someone just stole my new car. I'm currently in pursuit," I told him urgently, lengthening my strides before the car could get too far ahead of me.

"_It is sometimes said by those who are trying to hide something that they have been robbed, which thus takes the suspicion off of themselves,"_ came Question's voice, startling me for a moment before I realized that J'onn must have had me on the speaker comm. in the monitoring room. Typical Question, poking his head where it didn't belong.

"I'm completely serious here, guys," I answered, scowling. "I don't care if you believe me or not, but someone just stole my car. I'm following it across the city, then I'll perform a citizen's arrest or something. I don't know what I'll do yet, but I'm going to catch them in the act!"

Up ahead, my car turned into the drive of the junkyard that was conveniently placed just outside of town. Gravel kicked up behind me as I slowly followed. What were the culprits doing _here_? Were they going to try to auction my car off for spare parts? They could probably get more money out of selling it whole, but that was just my opinion.

"_Are you sure that you are not simply dreaming?" _J'onn proposed sensibly. _"Perhaps you are sleepwalking, Flash."_

Sure. Yeah, right. I ignored his comment, ducking behind a pole as the car stopped just ahead. Crouching down secretively, I peered out from behind my hiding place. No one was getting out of the car. So someone had just borrowed it to go for a spin at the local junkyard? Wow, now _that_ made a lot of sense. I stared intently, wondering it I should go up and rap on the window or something.

"_Over twenty percent of America's population experiences sleepwalking on a regular basis. I suspect that it is involved with flea collars and girl scout cookies, though my conclusion of this could somehow be wrong." _This, of course, was Question. He just couldn't resist making little 'Conspiracy' remarks in the background.

I opened my mouth to answer him, then froze. My eyes, still locked on my car, widened. As I stared wordlessly at the outside frame of the vehicle, it unexpectedly began rippling, changing shape. It grew swiftly upwards, tires wobbling then straightening and various parts changing positions. It was taking on a kind of humanoid shape, though it was distinctly…_not_ human.

Okay, so maybe Question was actually right for a change. Maybe I _was_ dreaming. Though I'd seen weirder things than a car turning into a giant robot. Such as Lex Luthor merging with Brainiac, for instance. Now _that_ had been creepy.

I rubbed my eyes with the backs of my hands, then leaned back around the side of the pole. I was just in time to see the robot, which was the same mustard-yellow color as my car had been, raising one large hand towards the sky. A huge beam of blue light exploded from it, speeding towards the sky. I assumed that it was some kind of signal or transmission or something, but I could have been wrong.

"_Flash? Are you still there? I am experiencing some interference with your signal," _J'onn announced in his thick accent, startling me. To be truthful, I'd completely forgotten about him still being on the line.

"Uh…my car wasn't stolen," I choked out, though realizing at the same time that J'onn would probably think I was crazy. "It stole _itself_. It just turned into a giant robot, and it's sending some kind of message up into space! I think this could be the start of another alien invasion! Maybe the Thanagarians have some kind of secret weapon, and they sent it to penetrate our defenses before they actually arrived on their own! The whole planet could be in jeopardy!" I took a deep breath, waiting for J'onn's reaction of how brilliant I was for figuring all this out on my own.

There was a moment of silence, broken only by the creaking and groaning of the mechanical joints of the behemoth creature as it continued flaring the blue light towards the sky.

"_Do you see any strange symbols and or lights on the robot, which could signal that it was created by an alien race?" _Question inquired eagerly.

"_Flash, perhaps you should retire back to bed for the evening," _J'onn proposed calmly. _"I believe that you are dreaming as you sleepwalk. It would be safer to be at home in bed than wandering throughout the city."_

I suppressed a growl of rage. Typical. Even when I actually witnessed what could be the start of yet another invasion, they still considered me a kid sidekick who didn't know what he was talking about! And why would I dream something like _this_? "I'm telling the truth, J'onn. You should see this!" I exclaimed, trying my best to make him believe me.

"_Good night, Flash. If you still believe that what you say you saw is true in the morning, we will have a Founders' meeting to discuss it." _J'onn politely hung up, a small buzzing echoing inside my ear for a few seconds before the line automatically switched itself off.

Scowling, and thinking a few choice expletives about a certain Oreo-loving Martian, I turned back to stare at the robot that had once been my car. Okay, talk about _weird_. It was gone. It had just vanished, without a trace. How could something that big just disappear without me seeing where it had gone? It just wasn't possible.

I stepped out from behind the pole, frowning in the direction that the giant robot-that-had-used-to-be-my-car had been just moments before. I took a few steps away from my safe position, wondering exactly where it had gone. Maybe further into the junkyard? I sped forward into the large building ahead of me, glancing around cautiously. Who cared what J'onn said? I hadn't been dreaming, and I knew it. So that car had been here, and I was going to find it. It had to be around here somewhere…

A ferocious chorus of barking rang out, and I whirled around in shock. Two chained dogs, who rather resembled evil demons in my opinion, lurched forward towards me. My eyes flashed down to the small scar on my right arm, which was a souvenir left over from a dog attack when I was younger. I saw sharp claws and teeth and spilled blood in my mind's eye, then my heart sped up frantically. I turned and took off at super speed, blindly tripping over just about every obstacle in the way. I'd always had a fear of dogs, ever since that accident with my dad's vicious pit bull when I was nine. I doubted that I would ever fully get over it, seeing as I was deathly afraid of two that were chained.

I stared over my shoulder, trying to see if my impending doom was getting any closer, and tripped over a board that had been laying carelessly in front of me. A protruding nail scratched at my leg, piercing the skin through my jeans, and I fell onto my hands and knees. I ignored the minor pain, throwing myself to my feet again.

Behind me came the heart-stopping sound of the dogs' chains breaking out of the wall that they had been attached to. Gasping for air, and chest feeling like it was constricting, I threw myself up onto a metal trashcan. I tried to stand in the very middle of it, as far away from the edges as possible.

The two demon-dogs tossed their bodies wildly against the side of the trashcan, claws scraping at the metal. The whole thing shuddered as though it was about to topple over, and I held my breath, getting ready to run. Those two things would probably tear me to shreds if they caught me!

Suddenly, the all-too familiar roar of a car engine rumbled loudly, and my car sped up to the side of the trashcan, nearly hitting one of the dogs. It yelped, then raced away with its previously-snarling companion following it closely. The car idled beside the trashcan, as though waiting for me to get down.

I fumbled in my pocket for the keys, hands still shaking from the near-death experience with the two demon-dogs. True, I was thankful to the-car-that-was-really-a-robot for saving me and all, but it was still kind of freaky. "Here are the keys, I don't want them!" I shouted, throwing them carelessly at my metallic pursuer. They went right through the open window. Any other time, I would have been impressed with my throwing arm. Right now, I was too freaked out about the last ten minutes of my life to really care.

I leapt down from the trashcan, one ankle twisting painfully underneath me. I dropped to my knees again, half-expecting the idling car behind me to try to run me down. Instead of doing as I expected, it just kept idling in the same place, headlights focused directly on me. Brow furrowing, I heaved myself to my feet and stumbled quickly away. I would have run straight back to my apartment, but I didn't think that my ankle would have been able to hold me up. It was already aching, pain radiating through my whole leg. I didn't think that I had broken anything, but it still smarted.

A bright flash of blue and red exploded in the corner of my eye, and I quickly turned towards it. A police cruiser was slowly driving up outside, presumably because of some silent alarm or something. Why there would be an alarm at a junkyard, I had no clue. It wasn't as if someone would really want to steal anything from around here. Glancing behind myself, I saw that the car had conveniently vanished. Well, there went the proof of my story.

Heaving a sigh, I hurriedly limped my way out to the police cruiser. At least I wasn't going to have to walk all the way home. But it still wouldn't look very good on my record to have been caught breaking into some random junkyard after four in the morning. But no one would ever suspect a criminal Wally West to be the hero Flash, anyway. That was sort of a plus side to the whole situation.

The two doors of the police car opened, and a couple of cops stepped out. They both stared at me disapprovingly as I hurried towards them, still limping. My ankle was killing me. Stupid trashcan. "Officers! There was a giant robot, and it was sending some kind of message to space-" I began half-heartedly, not really expecting them to believe me.

One of the officers, not sparing any time to really listen to my urgent message, slammed my head onto the car. White spots flashed across my vision, and I grimaced at the ringing sound inside my head. I was definitely going to have a headache tomorrow morning. "The car's in there!" I cried urgently. "It wasn't me; it was the car!" I wasn't exactly sure if this was improving my case or not, but I had to try.

"It would be better for you if you were quiet now, son," the officer who had pushed me needlessly down onto the hood of the car snapped. He didn't sound like he was having a very good night, but there wasn't really any reason to take it out on _me_.

I groaned under my breath when I heard the clinking of metal cuffs, and felt them fastening around my wrists. At the next West and Witwicky family reunion, I was really going to let Sam have it.

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Okay, guys. Make sure to review if you want to see a new update soon. And you know you want to… ;)


	10. One Phone Call

Chapter Nine: One Phone Call

My two fists were planted against my face, holding it up, as I sat on the creaky cot inside the small holding cell. This really sucked. The cops had carelessly thrown me into this cell after bringing me back to the station, not even bothering to listen to a word I had said about my evil car. They didn't seem to even care that we had a possible mutant car invasion on our hands. I was also starving from all the excitement, which made matters even worse. And to top it all off, a disgusting cockroach had been crawling up the brick wall beside the cot.

Could things get any worse?

A loud jangling of keys assaulted my eardrums, echoing as it bounced off the stone and brick walls. I glanced up halfheartedly, wondering what exactly was going on out there. Anything would be more exciting than the boring monotony of this place.

My jaw dropped when the officer stopped before my cell and started unlocking the door. I slowly got to my feet, being careful of my aching ankle. How stupid was getting a sprained ankle from leaping off a trashcan? Imagine me, the Flash, fighting hundreds of super baddies with amazing abilities, then getting taken out by…a metal trashcan. How lame was _that_?

I hobbled over to the bars, wincing. I was more than ready to escape this cell. But why were they coming to let me out so soon? The way they had been acting earlier, I had been more than sure that they were content to simply lock me up and throw away the key. And all just for trespassing in an empty junkyard at night.

I wondered if maybe they had decided to finally believe me about the giant car thing. It could definitely be dangerous, especially if it had been using that signal light to call more of its kind. Maybe a team of evil cars, led by my own vehicle, would use some kind of ooze to change every single car on the planet into one of them. That was an evil plot if I'd ever heard one.

"Uh…what's going on…sir?" I asked politely, trying to seem as unthreatening as possible. Maybe he wouldn't handcuff me again, which was totally humiliating. True, I could have easily escaped with a burst of speed, but I didn't want to completely sabotage my secret identity.

"You're going to get your phone call, kid," the officer said gruffly, pulling the door open. He stepped back, then gestured in the direction that I was supposed to go. He wore a bored expression, so he apparently didn't consider me a very big threat to world safety. That was always good news.

"I was kind of hoping that you might let me go," I admitted, stepping out of the cell.

"Not until someone posts bail for you. That way."

I started limping forward, the officer following directly behind me. Okay, not good. Exactly who was I going to call in the middle of the night to tell them that I had been arrested? Definitely not Mom; she would freak out. Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris were distinct possibilities, but I didn't want to listen to their I'm-so-disappointed-in-you speeches that were sure to follow my rescue. That unfortunately didn't leave many people that could help me out.

The cop moved around me, obviously tiring of my slow pace, and roughly pulled open a door at the end of the hall. A tiny room was revealed, its only furnishings a metal chair and a table with a phone resting on its surface. He gestured pointedly to the inside of the room. "I'll be back to check on you in five." After I had stepped through the doorway, he closed and locked the door behind me. His footsteps echoed back to my ears as he retreated down the hall.

I staggered tiredly over to the chair, and sank gratefully down onto it. It was pretty hard, but it was better than that stupid cot from the jail cell. Putting my head back in my hands, I stared blankly at the waiting phone. It seemed almost to be laughing at me, taunting me for having no one to call that could bail me out.

I _really_ needed to get some sleep.

Closing my eyes, I began quickly running over my mental list of friends and allies that could bail me out of jail. There weren't that many, so at least I wouldn't have to use up all my brainpower. I needed as much of that as I could get, being as tired as I was. And since there weren't any iced mochas on hand, I was just going to concentrate on staying awake.

Shayera? No, absolutely not. She would kill me for being arrested, probably beating me with her mace.

Linda? Not a chance. She was probably still a little ticked off about the whole going-to-get-pizza-and-never-returning thing. I didn't want to waste my one phone call on her, then end up getting an angry earful. Besides, knowing her, she would make a story out of me being arrested, then air it on the six o'clock broadcast of the evening news. That's what I got for dating a reporter.

Ollie? Nope, not an option. He would make fun of me, then spread word of my short time in the slammer around the entire Watchtower.

Maybe Fire? Well…I didn't know her that well yet. It would be weird to have her post bail for me. Besides, I didn't really want her thinking that I was some kind of weird superhero who doubled as a super villain. And she still kind of hated me since I had told her I was in love with someone else.

Ralph? Naw…he was more of a bop-your-block-off kind of friend. We didn't really talk that much.

I wasn't about to call Bats, Diana, Supes, or J'onn. They would all give me disapproving looks, then probably lecture me. Especially Mr. Wayne, if my guess was correct. So that only left one person that I could get to get me out of jail, someone who had already done it for me once, a few years back…John.

Opening my eyes, I groaned aloud at the thought of calling GL. He wouldn't be happy, especially since it was the middle of the night. But at least he wouldn't give me a BatGlare, laugh at me, or come after me with a deadly weapon. That was a definite improvement over some of the other selections.

I took a deep breath, then reached for the phone. It took me about thirty seconds just to dial seven digits, as my heart was pounding frantically against the inside of my chest. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. If I didn't really call GL, then maybe the police would just let me live in the cell. At least they wouldn't yell at me.

I heard a faint ringing sound at the other end of the phone line, so I slowly raised it to my ear. Waiting, I counted six trilling rings before the phone was actually picked up. _"Hello?" _came a woman's groggy voice.

I pulled the phone away from my ear for a second and stared at it, then placed it back against my ear. "Uh…is this the Stewart residence?" I inquired cautiously.

_"Who is this? And why are you calling so early?" _the unknown female demanded.

"Uh…can I just talk to G…John?" I barely refrained from calling him GL, swallowing hard. I listened intently as I heard a muffled crackling sound as something was placed over the mouthpiece on the other end, and two people whispering. I glanced nervously towards the door, wondering if my five minutes was up yet. I was almost ready to give up all hope, when a deep voice finally answered.

_"Hello?"_

"John! Man, I thought I had the wrong house there for a minute! What the heck took you so long to answer? And who was that woman who just answered the phone?" I had to take a deep breath to calm myself down. I rambled more than usual when I was tired and slowly starving to death.

_"Wally?" _He sounded surprised, which wasn't very shocking. Who wouldn't be surprised to have someone calling them before six in the morning, seemingly just to ask why a woman had answered? _"It was Mari. What do you want?"_

Mari. That made sense. "Oh. Um…I kind of need some help here."

_"What are you talking about? It's not even six yet."_

"I know, Mr. Cranky," I retorted with annoyance. "But I need…uh…I need…" I swallowed hard, then inhaled deeply. This was it. Would he yell at me or not? "Ineedsomeonetobailmeoutofjail," I blurted out.

There was a suffocating silence from the other end of the phone line. When he spoke, as I had guessed, GL didn't sound very amused. _"Did I hear you right, Wally? Did you just say that you need someone to bail you out of _jail_?"_

"Um…that's right," I answered hesitantly, cringing.

"_What did you do this time?" _he asked me wearily.

The sound of rattling keys made me jump about a mile high, and I shot a frazzled glance towards the door. It seemed that my five minutes were officially up. "I have to go. But I would really appreciate it if you helped me out here, buddy," I said quickly, trying to sound perfectly innocent. As innocent as someone asking to be picked up from jail could sound, anyway.

_"I'll be there in an hour." _The line went dead, just as the same officer from before walked back into the small room. I slowly put the phone back in its plastic cradle, then stood to face my doom.

* * *

I was stretched out on the cot in my holding cell, memorizing every crack on the ceiling, when I finally heard voices out in the hallway. I sat up with a small burst of speed, squinting through the faint lighting towards the door.

"Right this way, sir." A different officer appeared, holding a rusty ring of keys. He unlocked my door and pulled it creakily open. "Okay, you're free to go," he directed at me, without even an ounce of politeness.

I hobbled to my feet, wincing when I saw John standing behind the cop. He was wearing a t-shirt, jeans, and black sunglasses, and did not look pleased. His arms were folded tightly across his chest as he stared coldly at me. "Um…thanks?" I squeaked.

"Come on, hot shot," he muttered darkly, turning on his heel and marching down the hallway. The officer followed us more slowly, and I was glad to see that we left him in our dust.

"What were you _thinking_?" John hissed at me, scowling fiercely, as we walked towards the front door of the police station. He almost reminded me of Bats, and that was really saying something. "How could you do something as idiotic as get arrested for hanging around a junkyard in the middle of the night? You're _supposed_ to be a hero."

"I _am_ a hero," I retorted crossly. After all, I'd seen my car to life in the ungodly hours of the morning, then been chased by a pack of demon dogs. If that wasn't enough, I'd been thrown in jail and then forced to call him for help. It wasn't like I was in the best of moods right at the moment. "I just had a bit of a situation, that's all."

"Situation?" he demanded dubiously, pushing open the door and stepping out into the chilly morning air. He paused on the front steps, waiting as I hurried to catch up with him. "Raiding the Watchtower cafeteria and being caught by Batman is a situation. Being thrown in jail is a _disaster_."

"You don't understand, GL," I ground out, not bothering to hold back the nickname. It wasn't like there was anyone around at this time of the morning to overhear me. "I didn't get tossed into a holding cell on purpose. I was chasing my car, which I thought had been stolen-"

"Your car was stolen? Why didn't you just call the police?"

"Because I'm _the Flash_. I can catch the thieves of my own car without any help, thank you very much. But anyway, that's not the point. My car wasn't actually stolen." I shifted my weight to another foot, then winced. Great. How was I supposed to run when my ankle was like this?

"So you were sleepwalking? Figures," he snorted. "Why don't you go back to bed now, Wally. Like _I_ would, if it weren't almost time for my next shift up at the Watchtower." He turned away, obviously ready to head for a secluded spot so that he could take for the skies and fly back home.

"You're not _listening_ to me," I persisted, grabbing his shoulder with one hand. I waited until he had reluctantly turned back around to face me, then continued talking. "My car wasn't stolen, because it stole _itself_. Do you hear me? It came to life and drove to that junkyard, then blasted some kind of signal up to space!"

John blinked, then looked seriously annoyed. "Don't tell me that you're drunk," he stated, cocking a brow.

"No!" I did my best to sound offended. "I'm not _drunk_. I'm telling you the truth. _My car is alive_." I strongly emphasized the last four words, but it didn't really seem to do any good for my case.

"Go home, Wally. Sleep it off before you come up for your next shift." GL turned and walked away, not bothering to even look back at me.

I cursed mentally, then started limping towards the nearest bus stop. Why would no one even _try_ to believe me? I was trying to warn them about a potential danger to the entire planet. This could be the start of an alien invasion, and not even my supposed best friend would listen to a word I had to say.

I reached up and rubbed my forehead, trying to ignore the killer headache pounding against the inside of my temple. Okay, maybe I should just get some sleep. There was a small possibility that I could get some ideas while sleeping, which would possibly jumpstart my brain. Maybe I could come up with a way to make the others believe me. Somehow.

Suppressing a yawn, I flopped limply down onto a bench to wait for the next bus.

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Okay, guys. Make sure to review! :)


	11. Freaky Cars

Chapter Ten: Freaky Cars

I woke up unwillingly the next morning, and only because of the steady stream of sunlight that was hitting me full in the face. Groaning, I rolled over and buried my face in the sofa pillow in hopes that it would magically become night again. I hadn't gotten nearly enough sleep the night before, maybe four or five hours, if not less than that. I'd lost track of the actual total. But it certainly felt like I'd gotten that much, even though I _might_ have gotten more. And the whole being-in-jail thing hadn't really helped my rest, for obvious reasons. I'd spent my whole time there counting coach roaches instead of sleeping.

My stomach rumbled loudly, begging for some nourishment, and I growled a few unsavory things under my breath. Yet another time when the most obvious side effect of my powers got in the way of my doing something more important. Such as sleeping, to name one thing. I would have planned on totally ignoring my growling stomach, but I knew it would only get worse. Heaving myself into a sitting position, I squinted into the bright light flowing in my bedroom window. My head was killing me, so I rubbed uselessly at my temple. Everyone always says that this helps when you have a headache, but it so doesn't.

Trying to open my eyes just a little wider, my gaze happened to drift onto the alarm clock resting on the small table at one end of the couch. It was the table where I piled all the junk that I didn't really know what to do with, such as bills, keys, and my wallet. I had no idea how the clock had moved from the coffee table to there, but didn't pay it any mind. I could barely see the gleaming red numbers, but enough to tell what they said. It was after noon, according to the clock.

The first thing that came to mind after this revelation was that I really _had_ gotten more than four hours of sleep, though I still didn't feel like this was true. The second thing that I realized was that I was late to work, and horribly so. Not League work, but real life work: my job in the forensics department with the Central City PD. Well, I sure wasn't going to be elected for employee of the month anytime soon, with all the work I had been missing lately.

_Who cares? I can miss a day sometimes, _I assured myself crossly. _I haven't used up any of my sick days for the month, so this is as good a time as any. _Right, just what I needed. A day off from both works, to wrap my head around the idea of what had happened the night before.

I still couldn't quite believe what I had seen. Who'd ever heard of a car morphing into a giant robot? Except for maybe Question. _He'd_ seemed to almost believe me when I'd told him and J'onn about it over my comm. But a certain Martian I knew was totally off my Christmas list for the insinuation that I was sleepwalking. If he'd been hoping for the stocking stuffed with double-stuffed Oreos again this year, he definitely had another think coming.

My stomach growled again, and I heaved a sigh. "I'm going, I'm _going_!" I snapped out loud, instantly feeling stupid for doing so. Rolling my eyes at my own stupidity, I used my arms to shove myself up from the couch. Almost immediately, I dropped back down into the cushions when my sore ankle gave out under my weight. I'd almost forgotten about spraining it by leaping off the trashcan at the junkyard. Apparently, it wasn't quite healed yet. Wonderful.

Gritting my teeth together, I heaved myself back into a standing position, balancing most of my weight onto my left ankle. Ignoring the thought of how stupid I probably looked, I hopped my way into the kitchen, clutching at random things to keep from falling over. I both heard and felt the impacts of people in the apartments below mine throwing stuff at their ceiling/my floor. There were also a few shouts that commanded me to stop hitting the floor with my baseball bat, which I pretended not to hear. Why on earth would I be whacking a baseball bat against the floor? I hadn't played baseball since I was ten years old, thank you very much.

Finally reaching my destination, I leaned heavily against the counter beside the sink and stared at the cheap countertop. I really needed to invest in a better kind, since it was chipped and broken in several places. Shaking my head, I turned and started hopping towards the refrigerator. I didn't see the newspaper spread across the floor, apparently after having been blown from the kitchen table, until it was too late. I ended up landing on the tile with an even louder thump than that of my single foot hitting the floor. I shouted a word that I won't bother recording here, and the annoying little dog named Paco in the apartment right next to mine starting yipping shrilly. Needless to say, this didn't improve my mood.

Flipping back to my feet with a burst of speed, my ankle throbbed angrily. I just couldn't win, obviously. Adopting my hopping method once more, I made my way over to the refrigerator, actually getting there this time around. Reaching into the depths of the cold air, I pulled out a milk carton. Checking the expiration date, I saw that it was none other than yesterday's date. Scowling with disgust, I studied the bottle as though it was its own fault for expiring. Now I was going to have to go buy some more sometime, which would be a problem if Kelton decided to fire me for not showing up to work today.

As I headed back towards the sink to see about dumping the foul milk down the garbage disposal, a horribly familiar car engine roared, right outside my own window. The milk carton slipped from my grasp and hit the tile at my feet. Milk splattered just about everywhere, including all over me, but I ignored this fact. Instead, I rushed to the window above the sink and stared down at the parking lot below. None other than my alien car was idling below the window, headlights pointed up the general direction of the window.

"Great jumpin' Hera!" I squeaked out, borrowing an expression from Diana. I didn't think that she had it copyrighted or anything, so it was probably safe to use, especially in such a moment.

That car was _stalking_ me! It probably had my murder on its mind, or something equally dramatic. Why else would it be following me around everywhere and revving its engine in such an ominous manner? Maybe it didn't want me telling anyone about the weird beam of light I had seen it shooting up to space. As much as I hated to admit it, it sort of made sense, in a twisted way.

So I had only one option. I had to get out of there before the car came barreling through the wall to murder me in cold blood. And that could prove to be a problem, since I couldn't exactly run very fast with my ankle in the shape that it was currently in. But since I couldn't stay there and wait for the car to speed crazily into the wall or something, I had to get out of there. I was going to have to improvise as I went along, like Bats always did. He made it look really easy, so it couldn't be that hard.

Or so I hoped, anyway.

Spinning around, I rushed for the door, grabbing my keys as I did so. I stuffed them hastily into my jeans pocket. I didn't want to be locked out of my apartment, since I doubted that the landlady could crack her heart of stone enough to allow herself to give me a new key to get inside.

Slamming the door behind me, I took off at a fast limp for the stairs. I knew enough about being pursued that you should never run _up_ the stairs. Whoever was following you tended to follow and trap you up on the top story, leaving no option except for jumping. I seriously doubted that my car could drive up the stairs to find me, but it could very well transform into the giant robot and easily pluck me off the roof. I also had no clue if the transforming thing was just something that happened during the full moon, like a werewolf, or if the car could do it at will. I didn't have that much experience with mutant/alien vehicles.

Grabbing onto the metal railing of the stairs, which I rarely touched for fear that Dwight Bloome had smeared something nasty on there, I swung my body down to the bottom floor, using some very Indiana Jones moves. Once my feet hit the concrete, I stumbled and nearly fell. As I quickly straightened myself, my eyes happened to land on the pink bike resting against the brick wall, the one that belonged to Dwight Bloome's little sister. True, it wasn't the Flash Mobile, but it would work to make a quick getaway.

Swinging my leg over the bike, which of course was much too small for me, I pushed off from the wall and took off as fast as I could. Speeding across the parking lot and towards the sidewalk leading off into the city, I caught a glimpse of the car's headlights flickering in my direction, as though the car was actually turning to look. This freaked me out even more, if that was possible, and I reached up for the comm. link in my right ear. Pressing it, I gasped breathlessly into the communication device, "Watchtower, come in!"

"_Watchtower here,"_ came the familiar voice of none other than my adopted big sis with the wings. She was much better than John, since the latter was probably still ticked off about the whole calling-him-in-the-middle-of-the-night-to-bail-me-out-of-jail thing. _"What is it, Flash?"_ She obviously wasn't alone in the control room, since she was being so formal. I could only hope that it wasn't J'onn, GL, or Question. They would all tell her to dismiss me as bonkers.

"Shayera, you've _got_ to help me!" I exclaimed frantically, shooting an urgent look over my shoulder as I pedaled through the downtown area of Central City. The alien car was quickly gaining, though keeping a small distance. I guess that it didn't want to run me over, for some reason.

"_Wally? Is something wrong?"_ She sounded pretty worried, instantly dropping all formalities.

"You could say that," I grunted, rocketing over a bump in the supposedly smooth concrete of the sidewalk. I guess that whoever built it hadn't done a very good job. "I'm kind of being _chased by my car_!"

"_You don't have a car,"_ Shayera said, her tone of voice giving me the impression that she was rolling her eyes. _"Besides, John told me what happened last night."_

That _traitor_! I was going to have to have a serious talk with him later on the importance of keeping his supposed buddy's secrets a little more _secret_. I really didn't want the whole world to know that I'd been in jail the night before. I decided to overlook this mention of my activities during the wee hours of the morning, and retorted to her, "I so _do_ have a car! Remember the one I told you about yesterday, which strangled me with the seatbelt?"

"_Oh, right. Yom Shigureth. The one that gave a mark that John thought was from a crowbar."_

"Uh-huh. But the point is, said car is now trying to kill me again! I'm serious, Shayera! I'm currently pedaling down Main Street on some little kid's bike, and the thing is _following_ me! And there's _no driver_!" I made sure to add, in case she somehow didn't get the seriousness of the situation.

"_No driver?"_ There was a short pause, and I admit that I sort of thought that she believed me. But then this theory was abruptly killed as she started laughing at me. _"Oh, Wally,"_ she choked out. _"Are you sleepwalking again?"_

"Let me guess. J'onn and/or Question told you about what happened last night _before_ the jail incident," I enunciated dryly.

"_You guessed right. You really _are_ smarter than you look."_

"_Hey_! That was low, Shayera, really low," I ground out, shooting another worried look over my shoulder. The alien car was still gaining, despite how fast I was traveling down the bumpy sidewalk. "Besides, _I'm_ the joker of the League, remember?"

"_Sure, sure. Remind me again why your car is chasing you?"_

"Duh, because I saw it beaming an alien signal up to space! Why else?" I demanded, mildly outraged. "Keep up with the progra–_ammmmm_!" Before I could even complete the word, my bike rocketed over one of the stupid speed bumps, one that was a little rougher than the others. My bike spun out from under me, and I flew off and landed hard on the ground. The idiotic excuse for transportation landed on top of me, knocking out what little air I actually had in my lungs. I grimaced, biting down hard on my tongue to keep from embarrassing myself even further by shouting a string of obscenities.

"_Let me guess. The car ran over you."_ Shayera was completely unsympathetic to my agony. I didn't bother to answer her, mentally running over a list of possibly broken body parts. None of them seemed broken, but they sure hurt _a lot_. That's all I'm going to say.

"_Wally_?" An incredulous and way too familiar voice rang out from one of the tables that sat on the patio of the café I had just crashed in front of. I slowly looked up, a hot blush covering my entire face and neck as my eyes met Linda's. "I _thought_ that was you. What on earth are you _doing_?"

"Uh…hi," I muttered with embarrassment, clearing my throat. Wincing, I tentatively climbed to my feet and brushed myself off, ignoring the throbbing in various parts of my body. "Fancy meeting you here, Linda. Hey, Marla." I made sure to greet Linda's camerawoman so not to be impolite, shooting a glance over my shoulder. The neon yellow car was about a block away, its pace slowed considerably. It was creeping towards me at a snail's pace, ignoring honks of annoyed drivers all around it.

"_What in Rao's name are you talking about?" _Shayera demanded from my comm. link. _"My name isn't_ _'Linda', Wally."_

"I _know_," I hissed, trying to move my lips as little as possible.

"I would ask why you were driving down the sidewalk on a little girl's pink bicycle and talking to yourself, but that's kind of beside the point," Linda said, idly stirring her drink with a straw. "We need to talk, Wally. You know, about what happened with us. Two days ago."

I shot a look at Marla, who was clearly pretending not to be listening to the conversation. She was suddenly way too interested in her salad. "Um…this isn't a really good time, Linda…"

"_Is that your girlfriend?"_ Shayera asked me with mild interest. _"You still haven't introduced her to any of the Founders, you know. We're supposed to be your friends."_

I didn't point out that I couldn't exactly take Linda up to the Watchtower, pull her over to J'onn, and say: 'Hey, this is my buddy J'onn J'onzz. Yes, he's a Martian. No, he's not evil. Yes, I'm the Flash. Cool, huh? Oh, and this is Superman.'

"When _will_ it be a good time, Wally? I want to talk about our relationship. We can't start keeping secrets," Linda stated seriously.

"Maybe late…wait, _what_? What secrets?"

"You acted like you were up to something yesterday," she told me, brow furrowing prettily. "Are you hiding things about yourself from me just because I'm a reporter? Because I won't tell anyone else anything that you tell me," she added earnestly. Marla's ears practically perked up at this, but she tactfully didn't look up from her meal.

"Seriously, Lin. I'm not keeping any secrets from you," I lied smoothly. Or at least, I _hoped_ it was smoothly.

"_Like Rao you aren't," _Shayera chortled inside my ear.

"Shut _up_, already!" I bellowed, one second away from ripping my comm. link out and tossing it onto the ground. Who cared what Bats would say about that? A certain little birdie just wouldn't shut up!

Both Linda and Marla looked startled, which is when I realized my horrible mistake. "Uh…I mean…not _you_," I hurriedly backpedaled. "I just meant…that rap music. Can't you hear it in that car over there? I really hate rap music, believe me."

Right then, at the exact _perfect_ moment, a finely tuned engine roared behind me. I spun around and stared in horror at the yellow car barreling down the sidewalk towards me, seeming intent on my immediate destruction. "Um…gotta go! Catch you later, Linda!" I jerked the bike into a standing position, then leaped onto the too-small seat and took off down the street.

"Wally! Wally, get _back_ here!" Linda shrieked after me, sounding totally outraged. I mentally cringed, calling reassuringly over my shoulder,

"Don't worry, Linda! I'll call you!" Yeah. Right. Like that was going to make her feel better, after I'd just ditched her like that.

"God, you have such a weird boyfriend. I don't know what you see in him," I could hear Marla saying as I pedaled frantically away.

"I've got to go," Linda told her, voice faint to my retreating ears. "Can you pick up the tab this time around, Mars?"

"Sure, why not. That's what I'm here for. Where are you going, anywa–"

I didn't stick around to see where my girlfriend was headed, concentrating on pumping my legs as fast as I could. I didn't exactly know where I was going, but I knew that I couldn't just hang around and let the evil vehicle plow me into a Flash-sized smear on the concrete. That wasn't even an option, for obvious reasons. How would I explain to Linda why I had run off and left her at my apartment the other day if I were a smear on the concrete? I couldn't.

Veering into a fairly empty parking building, I pedaled into one of the far corners and tossed my bike onto the ground while leaping off. My weight ended up completely balanced on my injured ankle, so _both_ my legs gave out. I collapsed in a heap on the ground. The evil car's engine roared outside, and I pulled myself across the floor at super speed, ending up behind a white SUV. Trying to hold my breath, I got on my stomach and peered between the back tires, towards the entrance of the parking garage. It was almost eerily silent, the only sound that of the car's engine rumbling threateningly.

The car moved forward, seemingly almost to glide like a ghost from a haunted house. It moved in my general direction, inching forward without even a single squeak of its tires. I swallowed hard, pulling my body back behind a tire as best as I could, still trying to keep from breathing too heavily, despite my mad race on Dwight Bloome's little sister's bike. The car idled again, as though waiting for something to happen. "_Shayera_," I breathed, my voice barely even loud enough to be heard. I guess that the Watchtower's speakers were working though, because my big sis had no trouble answering.

"_What, so you're done being crabby?" _

I remembered then that I had told her to shut up earlier, when speaking with Linda. "I'm in a parking garage. And the car is here _with_ me," I murmured, biting down hard on my lower lip when the car's headlights flickered my way, passing past my hiding place.

"_You're still having a car chase with yourself?"_ she asked me irritably. _"Aren't you bored of that game yet?"_

"It's _stalking_ me," I said in an undertone, still trying my best to remain unnoticeable. "I don't know how much longer I can last against this thing, especially since I have a hurt ankle and all. Can't you just, you know, transport me to the Watchtower? Please?"

Shayera gave me no sympathy about my ankle, as John had also done. _"We can't just transport people with no reason. You have to be in serious trouble or about to go on or off duty, Wally. You know that."_

I suppressed a growl of true rage. "Yeah, yeah. Well, I do happen to _really_ be in true danger, alright. You'll find this out when you find my battered body…" I trailed off when the car's wheels suddenly spun wildly on the concrete, carrying the stalking vehicle up to one of the higher levels. Had it finally given up the chase? I could only hope so.

"_What was it that you were just saying?"_ Shayera skeptically wanted to know.

Unexpectedly, a sleek black and white car cruised slowly into the parking garage, pointed in my direction. Oh great. It was the cops. As humiliating as it would be to be caught sneaking around in places where I wasn't supposed to be for the second time in less than twenty-four hours, at least they were here to rescue me from my insane car. And I could get a lift back home, keeping me from having to ride the Bloome kid's bicycle, which was always a plus in my book.

I used the palms of my hands to shove myself to my feet, then hurriedly hobbled over towards the police car. The headlights flicked towards me, completely blinding any sight that I might have once had. "Officer, officer!" I shouted gratefully, waving both hands so they could see that I wasn't armed. That would be just my luck if I were shot and tasered after escaping the nefarious plot of my evil car. "Thank God you're here! I'm being chased right now, and I could really use some help! I know this is going to sound crazy, but it's my car. My car is chasing me. I've been on my neighbor's bike, and I rode all the way down here…"

Whoever was driving the police car made no effort to get out, keeping the headlights on bright and focused directly on me. I held one hand in front of my eyes to shield them and waited a few seconds. Shayera was faintly saying something in the background, but I didn't listen to whatever it was. Instead, I walked around to the driver's side, still keeping my empty hands in full sight. "If you could just listen to me for a minute…"

The car door instantly flew open, slamming painfully into me. I cried out and dropped to the concrete, gritting my teeth together. My face contorted with pain, and I took several deep breaths. I had been injured more often as Wally West than as the Flash these days, and it really wasn't even funny.

Unexpectedly, the police car lurched forward, wheels spinning mere inches from my legs. I screeched girlishly and jerked my legs back, scooting away from the tires. The car came forward again, engine revving powerfully, and was even closer this time. Using my hands, I pulled myself as far away as I could, unable to get up and run because of the way that my legs were pinned.

"_Wally? Wally, what's going on?" _Shayera sounded totally freaked out. She's probably never heard me girlishly screeching before; it had that kind of effect on people.

_You don't want to know, Shayera,_ I thought grimly, eyes widening in horror as the car lurched forward yet again. _You don't want to know._ Then another thought occurred to me as I managed to drag myself a few feet away from the front bumper of the car: _I am so going to die. And if this keeps up, it's definitely going to be a closed-casket service._

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Sorry for the little wait, guys. I've kinda been caught up in some other fandoms lately, so I sort of forgot all about my _Justice Leagues_ fics. Not to mention all the stories I've been working on revising. ^-^; Anyway, I'm going to try to do better now, okay? So review and tell me that you appreciate my efforts! :) Especially since I kept almost drifting off to sleep while writing this yesterday. lol


	12. Transforming Vehicles

**A/N: **For seh507, since you asked me so _nicely_ in that PM. :D And thanks to everyone else for reviewing and waiting so (im)patiently for this update! Also, sorry I didn't post this last week, but we had a really bad snow storm, and if that's not enough, the Internet hasn't been working. O.O

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Chapter Eleven: Transforming Vehicles

Another girlish squeal tore itself from my lips as I continued to try in vain to jerk my legs back from under the hood of the threatening police cruiser. They _couldn't_ be crushed; that would be so _wrong_! My legs were totally my best feature, and how could I be the Flash with no legs? How would I _run_? Not being able to run was indeed a horrifying thought, so maybe you can understand why I was screaming so girlishly.

"_Wally? Wally, what's wrong? John, something's going on!"_ came Shayera's frantic exclamations from the comm. link nestled in my right ear, though I wasn't really paying much attention to her squawks.

As I stared with horrified eyes, the car finally stopped lurching dangerously towards me. The gleaming headlights pulled themselves free from the prison of the car's frame, balancing on long eyestalks of metal. They moved terrifyingly towards me, almost seeming to be peering down at me. I swallowed hard as I stared back, mesmerized. My girlish squeals finally dried up, as my throat was much too dry to even allow me to say a single word.

The eyestalks swayed back and forth as though in some sort of unseen breeze, for a moment reminding me of twin snakes about to strike. Then they withdrew, sucking safely back into place like limp spaghetti noodles. I blinked suspiciously at the glowing circles, eyes narrowing as I waited for whatever the heck was going to happen next.

Because it couldn't be over. Even I wasn't _that_ lucky.

"_Wally?"_ Shayera asked warily, the sound of her cautious voice much too loud in the terrible silence. _"Wally, are you okay?"_

Before I could answer her, tell her that I was far from being 'okay' right at the moment, a strange ripple seemed to move through the entire police cruiser. It started to shake wildly, like an untamable tornado had been released inside the engine, and I squeaked in shock. Jerking my legs the rest of the way back, I pulled myself backwards across the concrete with my scraped hands, ignoring the small tinges of pain.

I felt my eyes become even wider as various parts of the car began tearing themselves free, slowly but surely moving upwards and forming what resembled a giant metal statue of random pieces of metal. Under my incredulous stare, what had once been the supposed police car slowly changed into something more, something…_alien_. Mere seconds after the transformation had begun, though it felt like an eternity, an enormous robot towered over me. Its metal body gleamed blackly in the dim lighting of the parking building, and a pair of red eyes shone out of its ugly face. It seemed to be sneering down at me, and I didn't doubt it.

Its large mouth ground slowly open, the sound of mechanisms grinding together as it spoke filling the air. "Human scum," it growled, a harsh rattling sound like laughter echoing from within its cavernous chest.

I couldn't take it anymore; I leapt unsteadily to my feet and took off as fast as I could manage towards the back of the building. My injured ankle continued throbbing with minor pain and trying to give out on me, so my frantic getaway dash wasn't as fast and effective as I would have liked. I ended up staggering at a quick pace around parked cars, skidding and slipping on the rough concrete.

The ground started shaking wildly underneath me, and I risked a hurried look over one shoulder. Dread filled me as I saw the car from hell giving chase, leaping some unmoving vehicles in single bounds, crushing others effortlessly and carelessly under its huge feet. That sick leer of triumph and evil still lit up its mechanical face, and its crimson eyes were like twisted beacons, getting much too close for my health.

Only one thing came to mind about the current situation, so it was exactly what I then said: "Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap!" I stumbled frantically around a black SUV, my arms flailing. I pawed at one of its spotless windows in order to keep my balance while I half hopped-half charged past. I hoped the owners wouldn't mind the greasy handprint across the glass too much, though it would be better to have that than only a scrapheap remaining, which was basically what would be left if the thing chasing me happened to step on it.

"_Wally, if you don't answer me in exactly thirty seconds, I'm activating the transport and bringing you up to the Watchtower,"_ Shayera informed me loudly. She was sounding progressively more alarmed with the whole situation. And I wouldn't have exactly minded some emergency teleportation, but I couldn't really find the breath to tell her this little fact.

Unfortunately, at that moment, my little freaked out world exploded with pain. A single hand from the huge robot creature slammed into me, swatting me aside like a pesky fly. I tumbled head over heels through the air, a helpless cry tearing itself from my throat, then I fell onto my back. The windshield of the nearby car that had broken most of my fall shattered behind me, and glass stabbed through my clothes and skin. Agony blossomed into existence inside my body, and I groaned weakly. Blackness was tingeing across my blurry vision, and I blinked groggily as I tried valiantly to stay awake. Why the hell wasn't Shayera _doing_ anything? Weren't the thirty seconds up yet?

I stared with horror as the robot leaned menacingly over me, large fingers of the hand that had flicked me so carelessly aside waggling tauntingly at me. _This has got to be a bad dream,_ I thought, panicked. _What else could it be?_ Though I definitely wouldn't have had myself getting beat up so much in my own dream. I would have actually been lounging on a beach with tons of hot girls fanning me with palm leaves.

The robot sneered mechanically, and I was completely sure that it would crush me into a bloody pulp beneath its fist. I didn't want to look, to see the horrible death coming straight at me like a runaway train, but couldn't bring myself to look away.

"_Activation beginning. I'm locking onto your position, Wally,"_ came Mr. Terrific's voice over my comm. I assumed that Shayera had brought him in to help. _"Teleportation should begin in approximately seven seconds…"_

And then, to my immense surprise, the robot looked down at its own hand instead of savagely crushing me into the floor. A tiny device formed from its metal palm, glistening eerily in the faint lighting. Staring blearily through my tired eyes, I watched as the pencil-thin device extended towards me, claws forming slowly from its very tip. The claws extended towards me, and I flinched, expecting it to tear the eyeballs from my skull, or something equally dramatic. But instead, it reached carefully towards my ear. I experienced the creepy feeling of my comm. being forcefully removed by an outside source, and Terrific's voice faded depressingly away.

Then I could only watch helplessly as my only chance of a safe escape was crushed in the robot's hand. Its tiny parts were turned into a fine dust, and sprinkled sadly towards the ground far below the mutant vehicle. Well, so much for surviving the day. But at least I wouldn't have to worry about the embarrassment I had suffered earlier when speeding past Linda and Marla on a little kid's bike earlier.

"Human scum," the robot creature repeated in a gravelly voice, leaning down until its nightmarish face loomed up in my vision. "Where...are...the...glasses?" It enunciated each word carefully and darkly, which somehow made the question even worse.

"I…I don't have _any_ idea what you're talking about!" I managed to stutter fearfully, choking on the words as I forced them past my numb lips.

"Where are the glasses? We know you have them, Wally West. We will take the glasses from you _now_," the robot insisted angrily, leaning even closer to me. I could see every single part that made up its demonic features.

"I don't _know_ where your 'glasses' are! Why don't you check with your eye doctor or something?" I managed to summon enough strength to roll off the battered car hood and land on my bruised knees, then shoved myself to my feet. Stumbling briefly, I took off again, this time for the doorway leading outside. I knew I didn't really stand a chance of escaping, especially when I was so weak and tired after running and being abused so much, but I had to try. I couldn't go out like this, in some random car park building with a huge robot leaning down and demanding where a set of glasses were. Not after facing down all the bad guys I had in my short life.

The robot bellowed with rage somewhere behind me, and the ground started shaking again as it chased fearsomely after me. I kicked my speed up a couple of notches, coming pretty darn close to my normal speed, despite my badly injured body. In fact, I was looking urgently over one shoulder, tracking the evil robot's progress as it followed me, when I crashed into the motorcycle.

I went flying as the brakes kicked in on said motorcycle, and I tumbled into a heap on the ground. The motorcycle just missed landing on top of me, though the rider wasn't so lucky. I moaned, pushing myself out from under the warm body, then my eyes widened as I took in exactly who had landed on top of me.

"What the hell?" Linda cried with outrage, brushing the wild tangle of hair back from her eyes and sitting up. "Wally, what's going _on_?"

"Uh…nothing. Well, something. We just _really_ need to get out of here, Linda," I urged her, trying to find the strength to get to my feet again. I glanced towards the building I had just exited, and was highly surprised to see that my pursuer hadn't yet followed me outside.

"Wally, what's _happened_ to you?" my girlfriend demanded, taking in my apparently disheveled appearance. I could only assume that I didn't really look like my usual charming self. "And what's going _on_? You're acting kind of…strange."

"Trust me, we just _really_ need to get the heck out of here." I echoed my earlier statement, dragging myself into a standing position and grabbing Linda by the hand. I pulled her to her feet, then eyed the fallen motorcycle and wondered briefly if we could get it working again before the robot emerged from the building, or if we stood a better chance by simply running.

"I'm not going _anywhere_ until you tell me what the _hell_ is going on!" Linda exclaimed angrily, folding her arms across her chest. "How were you running so _fast_?"

"Uh, fast? What do you, um, mean?" I asked distractedly.

"Earlier, when you practically ran me and my motorcycle into the ground! You were moving so fast that I couldn't even hardly _see_ you!" Linda paused meaningfully. "If we're going to stay in this relationship, Wally, we can't start keeping secrets from each other. We're supposed to tell each other _everything_."

This, I _didn't_ need right now. I was trying to run for my life at the moment, and Linda was wanting to have a heart-to-heart conversation about our _relationship_. "What secrets? I'm, er, not keeping any secrets from you," I lied convincingly. Or I _hoped_ it sounded convincing, anyway. I had my doubts.

"I want to know _now_, Wally. We can't be serious if we can't even tell each other everything," she stated firmly, scowling at me darkly. In that moment, she kind of actually resembled Bats.

Now _that_ was a frightening thought.

I threw a frazzled glance towards the entrance to the car park. No sign of the freaky robot yet, which was kind of a surprise. Maybe it was lost or something. "I'll explain later," I hedged, crossing my fingers behind my back as I spoke. "We just _really_ need to go. Like, _right_ _now_."

"I've already told you. I'm not going _anywhere_ until you tell me what you're hiding," she stated in that hard voice I'd heard her use on the news so often, when talking about kidnappings or super villain attacks. This was what I got for dating a reporter, I guess.

At that very moment, the ground began vibrating faintly under my feet. I cursed mentally, wondering how the heck I was going to get Linda out of here before it was too late. "I'll tell you later, Linda, I promise! We just have to get _out_ of here!" I grabbed her arms and pulled gently, but she didn't budge.

"What's your _problem_, Wally? You're acting really weird. I don't even feel like you're the same man I've known all this time." Linda shook her head, obviously not about to go anywhere really soon.

The ground was shaking even harder now, which probably meant that the robot was getting closer still. Linda didn't seem to even notice, staring with a furrowed brow into my eyes like they held the meaning of life.

I really didn't want her to die at the moment, or _me_ for that matter, but there didn't really seem to be much I could do. Except tell her the truth, which seemed like just about the only thing that would get her to move right now. Swallowing hard, I made one desperate attempt that would probably make all the Founders kill me later on. If the robot didn't kill me first, that is.

"Well, what do you have to say for yourself? You can't keep shutting me out like this," Linda pleaded, taking one of my hands between both of hers.

"Okay, Linda! I'm the Flash, which is how I was running so fast earlier! Does that made you feel better, like I'm not keeping any secrets from you?" I demanded loudly, all the while with a sinking feeling in the general vicinity of my stomach. She was the first person I had ever told my secret to, not counting Uncle Barry. And he had just sort of…guessed.

Linda was gawking at me, eyes wide and lips slightly parted. "Wha…_what_? How is that even possible? Wally…are you _lying_ to me about this?"

Great. Even though I'd just told her my biggest secret, she still wouldn't _move_.

Suddenly, as though on cue, the huge robot burst out of the building. Its mammoth metal body gleamed creepily in the fading rays of sunlight, and its shining eyes turned to land directly on us as Linda screamed. My own eyes widened, and I put myself between her and the creature. There wasn't really much I could do with a slowly healing sprained ankle. It was unfortunate that I didn't have kick-butt telepathy like J'onn or super strength like Supes.

Before the robot could take those final steps and crush us into oblivion, there came a mighty squealing of tires. My alien car, shining a bright and cheerful yellow despite all its dents and scratches, sped into view, heading right for the robot. I couldn't manage to take my eyes away as my car crashed into the robot's legs with a tremendous crashing sound like thunder, sending it falling back against the car park building.

Then it spun around and headed right for us. Linda screamed again, then it screeched to a stop before us just in time. The door popped open with an inviting clicking sound, and the engine revved like it was somehow telling us to hurry up and get in before we were dead meat. I didn't hesitate, taking a quick step towards the open passenger door.

"Oh my God, oh my God. What's going _on_, Wally? Why isn't there a _driver_ in that car?" Linda shrieked, grabbing my arm tightly, nails cutting into my skin. "And are you _serious_ about being the Flash?"

"I don't _know_, Linda! But it's either getting into _this_ car, or being crushed by _that_ one!" I shouted, gesturing towards the evil robot behind us as it lurched unsteadily into a standing position once more. Then I wasted no time diving through the open door of my car, sliding over into the empty driver's seat as Linda hurriedly followed suit.

The door slammed shut, then I watched with amazement as the gas pedal literally shoved itself to the floor. We shot off, Linda screaming and clutching my arm again, momentarily leaving our pursuer behind. I turned around and peered out the dusty back window, just in time to see the robot change instantly into its police cruiser shape. Lights and sirens going, it gave chase.

And I had a bad feeling by the speed it was coming after us that it wouldn't be too long before it eventually caught up.

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Please review, everyone. :D I could really use some cheering up, as my email account DIED the other day! *wails*


	13. Revelations

**A/N:** Yes, I updated. I know, shocking. :P

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Chapter Twelve: Revelations

"Wally, tell me what's going on!" Linda demanded, after only a few peaceful seconds of silence. I reluctantly placed my gaze on her face, from where it had been fluctuating between the accelerator pressing itself to the floor and the dusty back window. "I don't understand _any_ of this! This car, it can't be…how can it be…"

"Driving itself?" I guessed, then cringed when she glared stormily at me. "I don't _know_, Linda. Seriously. See, I went to buy a car so I could, you know, impress you, and I ran into my uncle and cousin there. They got me to buy this car, the one that's, uh, currently driving itself. Since then, I've…" I took a deep breath, fully aware that I was starting to ramble, which I did when I was nervous, "…since-then-I've-nearly-been-choked-to-death-by-a-seatbelt-sprained-my-ankle-been-chased-across-town-by-this-car-thrown-in-jail-and-now-I've-been-attacked-by-that-other-car-and-I'm-starting-to-get-really-freaked-out!"

Linda blinked at me. "_What_ are you talking about?" she asked flatly. "I couldn't understand _half_ of what you just said, Wally."

I explained myself once more, slower this time, and watched as realization slowly began dawning across her face. "Oh my God. You're _serious_, aren't you? About being the…the…the Flash!" A hot blush spread across her cheeks, and I wondered if she was remembering all the times she'd flirted with me in costume, before knowing that she was already dating the man behind the mask.

"Yeah. It's true, alright." I grinned modestly, momentarily forgetting about the danger we were both in. And without League intervention, since I'd lost my comm. No one up at the Watchtower would be able to get a lock on my signal. Unfortunately. "Just call me the Scarlet Speedster from now."

She socked me in the arm with surprising strength, and I couldn't help yelping at the indignity of it. "_Why_ didn't you tell me you were the Flash _sooner_?" she shouted, right into my ear, her voice gaining a disturbing volume. "We're supposed to be _dating_, Wally! You _can't_ keep such big _secrets_ from me!"

I was starting to get a little annoyed. I'd just saved her life, after all. With the help of this car, of course, which was mysteriously driving itself at the moment… "There's a reason it's called a _secret_ identity, Linda," I told her with heavy irritation, feeling my Irish temper involuntarily starting to take hold. "I couldn't just _tell_ you all of a sudden. First of all, you never would have believed me. And secondly, what would have happened if some psycho had found out through you who I was? They would have taken you _hostage_, that's what! And third…well, you're a _reporter_, Linda!"

At this point in the…conversation, I firmly clamped my lips shut to prevent me from saying anything else. The day was already going downhill, and I didn't want to give it any other excuses to get even worse.

She stared at me with that wounded expression that she did so well, the one that always made me succumb when she wanted to go see a chick flick or eat salad instead of pizza. "Wally…I _never_ would have told anyone about who you are," she murmured, brow furrowing prettily. "I may be a reporter, but I love _you_ more than my job. So I wouldn't decide to make your secret identity the top story at five, if that's what you're so concerned about."

I was saved from having to respond to this touchy-feely statement as my car swerved unexpectedly into the opposite lane. Luckily, we were still in the outskirts of the city, so we didn't crash into some innocent bystander. Instead, we veered off-road and began bouncing wildly across the grass. What destination the car had in mind (or did it have a mind? I certainly didn't have a clue), I couldn't be sure.

Linda, who had been thrown against me when we'd suddenly gone off the road, straightened herself in the seat again. "Okay, explain things to me, Wally. Is this some kind of…Justice League thing? Maybe an annual hero training session of something?" She shrugged helplessly.

"Nope, sorry. Bats would be more likely to set up some building full of weird traps and stuff." I laughed, then saw the look on her face. "Sorry. This must be…uh…hard on you." It probably was, being thrown into the world of superheroes like this. She'd just found out that her boyfriend was the Flash, and I was already talking about Batman to her.

I needed to remember to keep my mouth shut.

"Um…yeah. You could say that." Then she brightened. "Hey, Wally. I don't suppose you could get me some interviews, could you? Maybe with Superman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman? Oh, and Batman!"

I tried to imagine bringing the Founders to Central City, so they could be interviewed by my girlfriend. I couldn't quite imagine it, especially with Batman. He probably wouldn't agree to do it in the first place, though the mental picture of him in his costume, sitting on my living room couch, was hilarious.

I didn't have to reply to her eager question, because my car picked that moment to crash through the wall of an abandoned warehouse that I hadn't even seen looming up. I'd been far too busy imagining Bats humorously sitting in my living room. The entire car shook, and I slammed forward against the steering wheel. My head smacked against the dashboard, and I felt a brief flare of pain.

I didn't have time to dwell on my injury as we sped right back out through the far wall of the warehouse. Linda screamed this time, just as the car screeched to a sudden halt. The door burst open, which I took as a sign that we needed to get out. I needed no further warning, and scrambled out, with Linda close behind me. I staggered out, managing to regain my balance before falling, and quickly pulled her away from the car, maybe just a _little_ too fast, since she looked kind of dazed when I stopped at a safe distance.

Shaking my head to clear it, and ignoring the flashes of pain in both my head and ankle, I stared at my car. Only it didn't really look like a car anymore. It was undergoing a total metamorphosis, much like the police car had previously.

Plates of metal and various other parts quickly shifted, and nuts and bolts enlarged and multiplied, joining other sections together. The…_thing_ that had once been my car grew upwards with surprising speed, tires snapping out to form a pair of what kind of looked like feet. And last but not least, the headlights snapped, forming a pair of icy blue eyes that shone brightly from the once-car's metallic face. But instead of looking ugly, like the robot that had assaulted me, this one radiated…goodness.

And no, I didn't just think that because it was _my_ car. Seriously.

When the transformation was complete, the car turned around and looked down at us from above. Linda squealed and clutched my arm, nails digging into the skin through my shirtsleeve. I winced and tried to shake her off, but she was gripping me like a tick or something.

Suddenly, the police car burst through the hole _my_ car had created in the wall of the warehouse. In a movement that probably would have looked instant to people without the Speed Force running in their veins, it changed shape, to its robot form. Then the two robots collided with a mighty crashing sound like thunder, slamming into one another.

Linda reached for something at her side, then made a sound of frustration. "Of course! The biggest scoop of the _century_, and I've lost my purse! I can't even take _pictures_!"

Before I could reply, I was startled to see a piece of shining silver machinery break itself off from the police cruiser robot, then roll away from the brutal mêlée. It rapidly formed into a tinier version of the brawling bots, with two gleaming dots glowing from its ugly face. And I recognized it.

"Hey! That thing was hacking into the Watchtower computer systems the other day!" I shouted accusingly, forgetting that I didn't really want to draw attention to Linda and I at the moment.

But it appeared that the tiny bot already had its beady little eyes set on Linda and I. It turned and raced right at us, with speed that was actually pretty surprising for a thing of its size.

Linda clutched frantically at my arm again. "Wally, _do_ something!" she shrieked, eyes almost comically wide with fear. She was pulling on my arm so hard that I toppled right over onto the grass, nearly pulling her down with me. My injured ankle, which had finally been well on the road to recovery, blazed with more pain.

_Great_.

"What's that thing going to do to us? It's like two feet tall!" I retorted up at her. And then I happened to recall, just a little too late, that the small robot had taken on the whole League and escaped unscathed. With all the top-secret files. And it had also attacked Vixen…

The robot launched itself through the air, and landed on top of me. Metal pinchers glinting menacingly, I swallowed hard and stared into its mechanical eyes. Then I wasted no more time, and vibrated my molecules at the fastest speed I could manage. Very anticlimactically, the thing blew up in an explosion of sparks, and rolled off me to the grass with a dull thud.

"Oh my God! You just…you were…" Linda looked utterly floored as I limped back to my feet.

"Okay, save all that for later. Let's, uh, get out of their way." I gestured pointedly at the duo of robots, who were still smacking each other around in the background.

Without waiting for her agreement, I shuffled my way over to a conveniently-placed ditch, pulling Linda after me. She huddled down beside me with no complaints, peering out at the two metallic things as they continued viciously tearing at one another. "What do you think they are, Wally?" she asked in a small voice.

"They have to be some kind of robots. Highly advanced ones," I confided in her. "And _definitely_ not robots from here on Earth."

Linda made a sound of incredulity. "You're saying they're _aliens_?" she asked dubiously, suppressing a laugh.

"Well, _yeah_. What else could they be?" I told her sensibly.

"Aliens aren't _real_, Wally," she answered me, in the tone of someone who thinks they're speaking to the mentally unstable.

"Oh, yeah?" I demanded defiantly, taking my eyes from the robotic battle. "What about Supes? And Di…Wonder Woman? And _Batman_?" I grinned wickedly. "And…everyone else in the League who's an alien?" I didn't really want to go through the trouble of naming every single alien who was a member of the League, so I just left it at that.

"Oh. Right." She frowned, obviously thinking. "_Batman's_ an _alien_?"

"No. Everyone just _thinks_ he is," I said sagely, smirking as I imagined his would-be thunderous reaction if he'd heard me say those words.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of screeching tires. I looked up just in time to see the second robot back in police car form, speeding away from the warehouse, fading into the distance. I resisted the urge to pump a fist in the air, and felt my eyes widen as the car (_my_ car, thank you very much!) marched triumphantly over to tower before us. Its hands were planted exultantly on its hips.

I cleared my throat, and tried to look tough and Bat-ish. "So, can you talk?" I called up to the once-car. Linda looked at me like I was insane, and I think we were both surprised when an actual voice blared from above.

"_XM Satellite Radio, Digital Cable Broadcasting Systems__."_

I blinked, trying to make sense of the garbled mess of words. "Ohhhh! You talk through the _radio_!" I guessed, hoping I wasn't too off with my sudden strike of brilliance.

The robot clapped and nodded, presumably agreeing with me.

"Wally, shouldn't we…go?" Linda whispered into my ear, once again tugging my sleeve. "This thing could _hurt_ us!"

"No, I don't think so…" I replied distractedly. To the robot I directed, "So…what the heck were you doing last night? When you were shooting all that weird blue light up at the sky?" _And when I sprained this stupid ankle in the first place, _I added mentally.

"_Message from Starfleet, Captain. Sent down like messengers from heaven, halleluiah.__"_

I shot a jubilant look at Linda. "Oh. So you're an alien, then?"

"Oh, shut up," she muttered back at me with a scowl.

But instead of answering me, the robot dropped down towards the ground. In midair, it transformed back into that yellow car I'd been sold by Bobby the car salesman. Its hood slammed twice, bouncing back into place, then the driver's side door creaked invitingly open.

I glanced at Linda at the exact time that she looked over at me. Her face broke into a grin, then both of us hurried to climb inside the car.

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**Please review if you get the time! And I've got some news that will probably make some of you very happy: I've composed an updating schedule, so I can try to update each of my in-progress stories regularly. This fic should be updated every other Wednesday from now on. Just so you know. :D**


	14. Cars From Another World

**A/N:** I'm really sorry, since this is kind of rude, but could you guys PLEASE stop asking me to make the chapters longer? They're all over 2,000 words long, some even over 4,000 words. That's the reason I haven't updated lately, since I'm tired of people saying that. So, um…if you aren't all ticked off at me now, enjoy the update!

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Chapter Thirteen: Cars From Another World

The alien car drove us to a hill just outside the city. Linda and I didn't speak on the way, but she clung to my hand with a strength that probably would have put Supes out of business. I could feel her nails digging into my palm, and it was all I could do not to leap out the car window to get away from her. But I didn't really want to make her mad at me again, so I stayed put.

We came to a smooth stop atop the grass-covered hill. I cautiously opened the door and climbed out, wincing when my re-injured ankle touched the ground. Linda climbed after me, using my conveniently-placed arm to tug herself out of the car. She nearly pulled me over, which would have been _completely_ undignified for a hero such as myself.

"So, uh, what exactly are we supposed to be looking at?" I asked the car, feeling just a little bit stupid.

"Wally–" Linda began, looking annoyed.

And then the car actually answered me, without using its garbled speaking voice. Instead, its headlights flashed brilliantly on, beams gesturing pointedly towards the sky above.

I glanced up, squinting with confusion at the coldly twinkling stars. "Um…yeah. Nice stars," I said placatingly, turning back towards the car. "But I would _really_ appreciate an explanation, okay? As in, what the heck was that police car doing, attacking us? And how did you just _happen_ to be around to save us? And…" I hurriedly tried to think to think of something else to say, highly conscious of Linda's dubious stare. I wanted to sound heroic, so she'd be impressed. Unfortunately, nothing that sounded even slightly intelligent came to mind, so I didn't bother saying anything else.

The car's headlights blinked again, as though politely suggesting that I keep looking up at the sky.

"Okay, is this looking-at-the-stars thing some sort of alien car pastime or something? Because not that this isn't _fun_ or anything, but I _really_ need to get to the Watchtower and tell–"

"Wally, look!" Linda exclaimed, grabbing my arm again.

I staggered blindly, pain radiating through my ankle, then focused blearily up at the sky, where my girlfriend was now pointing. I finally saw what she was pointing at, and my jaw dropped. Four meteorites, flaming tails extending far behind them, were falling across the black sky. They provided bright spots in the otherwise dark night, and spots momentarily obscured my vision.

Even as I used a free arm to shield my eyes from the glow, my mind was whirling with frantic thoughts. _Oh, crap! This is another one of those invasion things, like with the Imperium! I shouldn't have listened to this stupid car, because now all these brain-eating zombies are going to spring out and kill the human race! And…the others will _kill_ me for letting this happen!_ I thought frantically, all rational thought abruptly flying out the window, leaving me with only strange fantasies.

There was an earth-shattering thud, shaking me from my visions of blood, gore, and death by Batman. Linda screamed right in my ear, then everything was chaos. The whole world was shaking, and I lost my balance. I dimly felt myself falling over, slamming hard into the grass. I rolled over and over, still faintly hearing Linda's screams, crashing into one of my car's tires, a burst of pain flaring inside me.

And then, mercifully, all was still.

I slowly sat up, wincing at the dull throbbing in my side. "What the heck was _that_?" I spat angrily at the car, giving it a look of death that unfortunately probably looked more amusing than anything. Suspiciously enough, the car didn't respond.

"Oh my God," came Linda's faint voice, which let me know that she was still alive. I glanced towards her, and discovered that she was several feet away, slowly moving into a sitting position. And she was gazing at something just out of my line of vision.

I warily sat up, then moved slowly into a standing position. Now that I could see over the top of the car, I saw what Linda had been staring at.

Four massive robots, much like the one who had attacked me at the car park building, loomed over us. The only real difference I could tell between them and the transforming police cruiser was that these dudes had icy blue eyes instead of burning red ones. And the one robot who stood directly over us, its armor blue and red, seemed even taller.

"Are you Wallace Rudolph West, far descendant of Archibald Witwicky and keeper of the glasses?" the robot thundered down at us, leaning closer.

Linda poked me in the arm. "You told me your middle name was Alan," she said accusingly.

I chuckled nervously, wisely not taking my eyes from the robot. "Yeah, that's me. Who's asking?"

"My name is Optimus Prime. We are robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron."

"But you can call us Autobots for short," one of the other robots said jovially. "Your human brain is doubtlessly unable to compute the technical term, as they say on this planet."

"Autobots," I muttered to myself. "Oh, okay. And what 'glasses' are you talking about, exactly? That freaky police car robot thing asked me about them, too. And I _still_ have no idea what he meant."

"We will tell you about the glasses later. First, I must introduce you to the others," Optimus said, for some weird reason suddenly reminding me of Superman. "This is Jazz, my first lieutenant."

"Yo. What's crackin' lil bitches?" the aforementioned robot asked with gusto.

I blinked. "Oh, uh, hi. But how'd you guys learn to talk like this? In English? Because I thought all aliens spoke in, you know, a _different_ language." J'onn sure hadn't been spouting English as heartily as these guys when he'd first showed up.

"We've learned Earth's languages through the world wide web," Optimus answered seriously.

"Oh. Right."

"Ironhide, our weapons specialist. Ratchet, our medical specialist. And of course you know Bumblebee, your guardian."

The yellow Autobot did a small jig in place, punching the air so hard that I felt the gusts of air from the ground far below.

"Guardian? Uh…you guys may not know this, but I'm a _superhero_. I don't exactly need a guardian," I pointed out sensibly.

"Being unprotected would prove to be foolish," was all Optimus said in reply.

"Riiiight." Great, now I'd ticked them all off. "Anyway, why can't he talk? Sorry if that's rude or anything, but Bee here only seems to be communicating through radios and stuff."

"Bumblebee's vocal processes were damaged in battle."

"I'm still working on them," Ratchet said, aiming a beam of blue light at Bee's arm. He jumped back and clutched with indignation at his arm, giving the medical specialist a wounded glare.

"Sorry," Linda spoke up unexpectedly. She'd been so quiet that I'd almost forgotten she was even there. "But what exactly do you _'Autobots'_ want from Earth? And Wally?"

"Yeah," I added brilliantly, feeling a bit miffed that I hadn't thought of that question myself.

"We are here for the Allspark, which must be kept away from Megatron at all costs," Optimus declared.

"Uh…Mega-what?" I asked with confusion, starting to feel like I was in a little over my head.

Linda folded her arms, which I clearly recognized as the pose she took when people she was interviewing got a bit tightlipped. "You're going to have to explain yourself a bit better, Optimus. What's the Allspark, and who is 'Megatron'?"

I grinned appreciatively at her, but she stayed professional and waited for the reply.

The leader of the Autobots nodded grimly, then once again began speaking, "Ours was once a powerful empire. Peaceful and just. Until we were betrayed by Megatron, leader of the Decepticons. All who defied them were destroyed. The war consumed our planet, and the Allspark was lost across the stars."

"I'm getting a really bad feeling about where this story is headed," I said apprehensively. Robotic organisms having major battles against their own kind was never a good sign, but when they destroyed their planet, lost something important to them, and ended up on Earth? Very bad news.

"Megatron followed it to Earth," Optimus continued, as he hadn't heard me, "where Captain Archibald Witwicky found him in the ice. It was an accident that forever intertwined our fates. The coordinates to the Allspark's location were imprinted on his glasses."

Something was bothering me about this conversation. "Glasses, glasses…" I muttered under my breath, scouring my memory. "Oh! Those glasses Sam gave me at the family reunion! But how'd you know _I_ had them?"

"We tracked Captain Witwicky's descendants to the current generation, but Bumblebee overheard that it was you who had them. He informed us, and we came to take them immediately."

A staticy line of a song burst from Bumblebee's speakers, _"It's important to me__ that you know you're free…"_

"So what you're saying is that these glasses are really important," I guessed, scratching the back of my neck.

"Please tell me you still have them," Linda hissed into my ear.

"Oh, uh, yeah. I've got them. Uh-huh." I quickly scanned my memory. The last place I remembered seeing them was on my nightstand, buried under countless other pieces of junk. But I'd cleaned it off the other night to make room for a pile of magazines I'd tripped over on the floor, throwing a bunch of stuff away.

Besides, if I couldn't find the right glasses, I'd just give them a cheap pair from the antique shop in downtown Central City.

"If the Decepticons find the Allspark first, they will use it to transform Earth's machines and create a new army," Ratchet said. "It is imperative that we use the map imprinted on the glasses to find the Allspark first."

I'd forgotten the tiny detail about the map imprinted on the glasses. Oh, crap.

"The human race will be extinguished," Optimus added gravely.

Double crap. "We can't let that happen," I said quickly, wracking my brain for a solution. "Hey, let's go tell my teammates about this. The Justice League. You've probably heard about them from the Internet, right? Well, they can help. Then we'll, uh, go get the glasses."

"That would be a wise decision," Optimus agreed.

"Do you even _have_ these glasses, Wally?" Linda hissed in my ear, elbowing me in the side. She knew me too well.

"Uh, yeah. Of course I do," I lied hastily. "Uh…off to the Watchtower!"

* * *

Ten minutes later, I stood at a payphone outside the Central City bank. Linda stood beside me, and five cars idled at the curb. We were definitely getting some strange looks, but I pretended not to notice.

I picked up the phone, holding it to my ear with one shoulder, and dug through my pockets with both hands. "Uh…this could be a problem. Got change for a twenty?" I waved the crumpled bill at Linda, who made an exasperated noise.

"_Men_. You never carry around the right change." She snatched the twenty, stuffing it into her purse, then poured countless dimes, nickels, and quarters into my hands. It took a discreet burst of speed to catch the flood of change, involving a crazy jig in the middle of the sidewalk as I tried to keep any of it from rolling away. When I'd finally stuffed all the change into my pockets, I poked several coins into the pay phone and dialed a number.

I heard three rings, then an unfamiliar voice picked up. _"Art Tech Wow, how many I help you?"_

Taking the phone from my ear, I stared uncomprehendingly at it for several seconds before realization finally dawned. "Oh, very funny. Nice anagram. Anyway, this is a code 216980045401486677," I rattled off quickly, hoping I hadn't left out any numbers of the outrageously long code. "I need to speak to…uh, Shayera Hol right away. Hawkgirl. You know, the one with the temper and the wings."

"_One moment, please."_ There was a click, then some tacky elevator music began to play in my ear. Jeez, you'd think the guys up at the Watchtower would know when it was an emergency, and put me right through. But apparently not.

Linda grabbed my arm, almost making me drop the phone. "I still can't believe this, Wally. That you're the _Flash_, I mean. All this is just so…so…" She rubbed her forehead, looking dazed.

I glanced over my shoulder at the Autobots, who were still waiting patiently. "Yeah, but remember what you said. No telling anyone about any of this, right?"

She slapped me across the back of the head, and I cried my displeasure, gingerly touching this new sore spot. "Wally Rudolph West! I am _not_ going to tell anyone about your secret identity!"

I waved awkwardly at the staring woman walking past. "You're never going to let me live the whole Rudolph thing down, are you?" I asked dejectedly.

"Nope." She smiled primly, straightening her skirt.

"_Shayera Hol."_

Gripping the phone, I immediately focused my attention back to the matter at hand. "Shay, it's me. Wally. I need you guys to activate the transp–"

"_Wally! Oh, thank Rao! We've been trying to locate you all this time, you idiot!" _My supposed big sister's voice blared from the phone, which caused me to wince and hold the phone away from my aching ear. _"And your comm. isn't working, so we couldn't lock onto your signal and transport you up here. What's going on? Where are you?"_

"If you'd just _listen_ to me, I'd _tell_ you," I growled, actually doing a pretty good impersonation of Bats. "I've got a possible alien invasion on my hands, Shay. I need immediate transport to the Watchtower for me, one civilian, and, er, five cars."

"_Alien invasion?"_ she squawked. _"And why do you need five _cars_ transported up here?"_

"Just do it, okay? I'll tell you when we get there." I hung up the phone, feeling slightly important. Everyone in the League considered me a kid sidekick, but after this, not anymore. I was singlehandedly informing them of an alien incursion. Well…singlehandedly except for the Autobots.

"Wait a minute, Wally. Are you telling me that we're actually about to go to the _Watchtower_?" Linda gasped, grabbing my arm. "Where Superman is? And Batman? And _Green Lantern_?"

So much for feeling important. I wasn't even my girlfriend's favorite superhero. "Yeah. And don't forget about _Wonder Woman_," I muttered sarcastically.

A blue glow suddenly enveloped both of us, signaling that the guys up at the Tower had successfully located onto our location, thanks to the payphone. I gestured in a way I hoped was soothing to the group of Autobots, while Linda fixed a death grip on my arm, nearly cutting off the circulation.

My vision flashed blue as my molecules were broken down, then the next thing I saw was the inside of the Watchtower. Linda and I were standing on the teleport pad, while the Autobots were scattered randomly around the room. The purple-clad technicians looked shocked to say the least.

"Wally!" My attention moved up to the control room, where Shayera was waving over the railing at me.

"Be right up!" I shouted back at her, and started forward. Linda was still clinging tightly to my arm, mumbling in a dazed tone under her breath and staring around with awe. If her death grip didn't kill me, then GL or Shay definitely would, for bringing her aboard.

I hurried along one of the corridors that led to the monitoring room, with the Autobots rumbling along behind me. We passed quite a few Unlimited members, who all jumped out of the way in surprise. Crimson Avenger paused to take several pictures of the cars, then hurried off in the direction of Question's living quarters.

When we finally reached the monitoring area, all the Founders were waiting, along with Mr. Terrific and a couple of technicians. Batman was the only one whose jaw didn't drop at the sight of the five cars. The technicians watched the collection of cars uneasily.

"What's going on, Flash?" Superman asked me dangerously, brow starting to get the tiniest bit scowly. "Shayera tells me that you mentioned an invasion."

"And who is this civilian?" J'onn questioned, evidently meaning Linda.

"Well, it's sort of a long story," I began, not really sure where to start. "Maybe we should head to the meeting room."

Batman swept past, cape floating out behind him. Linda swooned and almost fell over. "You'd better have a good explanation for this, West," he snapped darkly at me over one shoulder.

I swallowed hard. Hopefully, the impending Decepticon attack was a good enough explanation for him. If not, then I was _so_ dead.

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I promise that there won't be months of waiting for the next chapter this time (if you can believe that…). I'm TRYING to turn over a new leaf… *coughs awkwardly* Please review if you have the time.


	15. Not So Secret Anymore

**A/N:** Surprise! Here's another chapter! :D

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Chapter Fourteen: Not So Secret Anymore

Superman closed the door after we'd all gone into the meeting room, then went to his seat at the head of the table. He sat down, then eyed the five idling cars expectantly. The others did the same, though I noticed that Shayera and GL were looking dubiously at me.

I glanced experimentally up at the ceiling, seeing with much relief that it seemed tall enough for the Autobots to stand freely. I hurried over and took my usual seat, and Linda stood behind the chair.

"Wally?" Diana began gently. "I'm not sure it's such a good idea for this…civilian to be present during the meeting…"

"She's my girlfriend, Di," I said irritably, trying to control my annoyance. "And she knows all about the League, and the Autobots, and the Deceptican invasion. So she has as much right as anyone else to be present." I patted my lap, and she hesitantly perched on one leg, blushing as the Founders stared intimidatingly at her.

"Well," Superman began, after several beats of awkward silence. "What was it that you needed to tell us, Wally? And, er, why are these cars–"

On cue, all the Autobots began transforming. Their forms moved steadily upward, metal body parts clanking as they shifted into different positions. I watched my teammates as this process took place, and had the satisfaction of seeing most of them utterly floored. Excepting J'onn and Bats, of course.

John leapt to his feet, gazing up at the impressive alien robots. "Judas Priest! Your car _was_ alive!" Apparently he remembered all the times I'd told him this, when he hadn't believed me.

I tried not to look too smug, unable to suppress a grin. "Yup. Told you."

"What's going on?" Shayera demanded, looking flushed. "Wally, who are these…guys?"

"Autobots. They're here to warn us of the Earth's looming demise," I said, deadpan. When everyone kept looking at me strangely, Linda included, I heaved a sigh. "Fine, whatever. They're here tracking down some weird gizmo doohickey that their archenemies are after. It's apparently to keep all of Earth's machines from being turned into an army of death or something," I finished halfheartedly.

Superman turned his attention to Optimus at this point, apparently deciding it would be better to get his information straight from the source. "My name is Superman, and we're the Justice League, Earth's protectors. What's this about a device?"

Optimus began to explain the story again, with occasional comments from the others or bursts of song from Bee.

I'd already heard the story once, and couldn't help being slightly bored. I was absolutely starving, not having had a chance for a bite to eat since all this mayhem had started, and none of the others were paying any attention to me. Even Linda was gazing admiringly at Supes.

This was almost worse than monitoring duty.

"…why it is important for us to locate the Allspark," Optimus finally finished. "To save all life on Earth, and that of countless other planets."

Diana's brow was furrowed. "I believe you," she said, exchanging a quick look with Batman. "I'm very sorry that you've lost the Allspark. On Themyscira, we have the same sort of device. It sustains us…" She trailed off, seemingly lost in thought.

"I agree with Diana. This sort of dilemma would be hard to create. I see no reason why these Autobots would be lying," J'onn murmured.

Linda seemed enthralled by his thick Martian accent, and I tried to suppress my frustration. Yeah, so I didn't have a cool alien accent, but that didn't make me any less of a superhero!

Supes nodded seriously, glancing around at the rest of us. "I'm with J'onn and Diana. What about the rest of you?"

A few beats of silence passed, growing steadily more awkward. I quickly cleared my throat, since it looked like no one else felt inclined to speak. "I think the Autobots are great. Obviously, since I brought them up here. We should help them stop the Decepticons."

Superman nodded, accepting my open, then his eyes drifted to Shay. "What about you, Shayera? You haven't said much," he noted.

She shrugged. "We should help them if the Earth is really in danger," was all she said.

"I don't see any reason why they would be lying," GL spoke up uneasily.

Supes finally turned to the Dark Knight. "Bruce? What do you think?"

He made no comment, eyes thinning slightly behind his cowl.

A burst of staticy lyrics burst from Bee's speakers_. "Now my suspicion's on the rise. I have known, I have known your kind. Please don't talk, don't make me think."_

I couldn't stand it any longer. "Come _on_, you guys! They're asking for your help to stop the Decepticons! Why would they come up here and tell you everything if they were trying to hide something?" I blurted out.

"Wally has a point," Shayera granted, folding her arms.

"You need these glasses to locate the Allspark?" GL clarified, looking over at me. "The ones Wally has."

"That is correct." Optimus seemed unaffected by the obvious tension hovering in the air as my teammates tried to decide what to do about him and the other Autobots.

"_Save me, 'cause I need you to save me. Just please save me."_ Bee swayed to the beat of the song, getting an odd look from both Shayera and J'onn.

"Then we need to get our hands on these glasses," Superman decided, getting to his feet. "Wally, where are they?"

I leapt up, accidentally depositing my girlfriend to the floor. "I'll just go, er, get them, then bring them right back," I said quickly, words blurring together. I repeated myself, slower this time, when the others stared at me uncomprehendingly.

"We'll come with you," Diana suggested.

"Uh…that's not really necessary…"

"We're coming with you," Batman interrupted darkly.

"No, really. I'll be fine. Linda and I will just run down and get them–"

"We're coming. With. You."

"Um…okay," I squeaked. Great. Just what I needed. _Not_. The Founders digging around in my apartment and alerting my neighbors to the fact that my second job was protecting their city as the Flash...just peachy.

Linda stumbled back to her feet, absently brushing off her rear bumper. She froze like a deer in the headlights as the Founders stood all around her and started for the doors. I tried not to roll my eyes too much as I took her hand and guided her after them. The Autobots changed back into their car forms, and rolled along behind the rest of us.

"Wally, you should have _told_ us." Shayera appeared at my side, GL beside her. Linda made a strangled squeaking sound at being in such close proximity to the two of them, but they didn't seem to notice.

"I did, Shay. Only ten thousand times." I couldn't help exaggerating just a little to prove my point.

GL shook his head grimly. "Judas Priest. And it had to have been one of those Decepticon things that hacked the Watchtower the other day. Getting information like it did from that base in Qatar."

My eyes widened. I hated to admit it, even to myself, but I hadn't thought about the Watchtower being hacked for quite some time now. I'd had _other_ things on my mind, understandably. "Yeah, it was a robot! A little one, but still a robot."

Shayera muttered something under her breath, which I wisely didn't ask her to repeat. "We need to stop these things."

I nodded, then a thought suddenly occurred to me. "_Now_ are you sorry, John? You called me drunk the other night when you bailed me out of jail. But obviously, I _wasn't_." I raised both eyebrows at him and smirked.

"You were in _jail_?" Linda shrieked incredulously.

I coughed awkwardly. "Uh…yeah. I never really got a chance to tell you about that…"

"So you must be Linda," Shayera said suddenly, tactfully changing the subject. "I'm Shayera. Wally talks about you _all_ the time."

Linda's frown turned upside-down, and I felt a surge of relief. "Really?"

"Oh yes. We can't ever shut him up about you." Shayera grinned wickedly at me. "And this is John."

"Hey."

"Hi!" Linda replied breathlessly, cheeks flushed with excitement.

We finally arrived in the teleportation room, and the eight of us stood on the teleporter pad, while the cars gathered closely around. "Teleport for thirteen," Superman told the gawking technician. "The Flash's home address."

"_Outside_ the Flash's home address," I corrected quickly. I didn't want to think about what would happen if the five cars were teleported into my living room. Talking about destroying a place.

As the technician began firing up the teleport controls, Mr. Terrific leaned over the railing and peered down at us. "Is this a situation, Superman?" he called down.

"Not yet, Terrific. But keep the reserves on standby."

"Will do!"

"Teleportation beginning in–" The tech broke off as an explosion of blue sparks burst from the controls. I eyed the smoking metal nervously, while Batman looked severe. "Uh, sorry about that. We've been having a few problems with this thing today. Might be a result from them being down all that time after the Watchtower was hacked."

"It doesn't matter, as long as our molecules don't scatter all over creation," John said forebodingly.

The technician, looking worried, didn't answer. He quickly finished recalibrating the controls, then I felt that familiar lurching sensation in my stomach. My vision flashed blue, leaving me feeling weightless, then the next thing I saw was the parking lot of my apartment building.

"Thank Hera. We made it," Diana declared, rubbing her stomach with one hand. "There seemed to be a bit of turbulence that time."

"There's always turbulence, Di. Our bodies are broken down into separate molecules and sent to a new destination," I pointed out knowingly. I was trying to look smart for Linda, though I actually knew this from J'onn telling me once.

"I get what you mean, Diana," Shayera interrupted. She glared darkly at me, as though for my male incompetence. "The teleporters must be about to go down again."

"Just what we need," John muttered, rolling his eyes heavenward.

"First things first. We need to get those glasses," Superman proclaimed. "Wally?"

I turned towards the building, then my jaw dropped in dawning horror. Dwight Bloome's freckled face was peering curiously out a window at me. And I was surrounded by legendary members of the Justice League.

Crap.

I turned back to the Founders and frantically waved both hands at them, though I knew it was already too late. The six of them were on full, costumed display in front of every single person who lived in the building. And that wasn't even mentioning the Autobots, who were now transforming into their normal shapes. "Do the words 'secret identity' mean _anything_ to you people? Because I've got one to maintain, and you guys are kind of _ruining_ it!"

"Don't be so melodramatic," Shayera chastised me. "It's just one kid. Who's going to believe him?"

"It all starts with one kid, Shay. Pretty soon, the whole city will know I'm the Flash!" I cried desperately.

"The whole _world_ will know if you don't shut up and take us inside," Batman growled, starting for the stairs. His cape flew out behind him. I rushed after him, hopping up and down at super speed to stay off my injured ankle as much as possible.

I made it to the right floor, then fumbled in my pockets for the key. Linda appeared behind me, out of breath from jogging up the stairs. The others appeared a few moments later, GL crossly wiping red goo from his leg.

"Oh, right. That kid throws tomatoes. Forgot to warn you, John." I pushed open the door to my apartment and hurried inside. I waited until the others had followed, then slammed and locked the door. It was probably already too late to keep my secret identity under wraps, knowing my luck, but I could still try.

"Great Hera!" Diana's baby blues were round as she gazed around the apartment. "Has someone ransacked the place?"

I could feel my cheeks going red, against my best efforts. "Uh…"

"No, it always looks like this," Shayera answered nonchalantly. "Believe it or not, it was even worse the other day when John and I picked him up for monitoring duty."

A loud pounding filled the apartment, and I urgently glanced around, thinking that the whole building was caving in. Instead, I saw Optimus knocking on the window above the kitchen sink. I limped in a blur of speed over to the glass, and hurriedly fumbled to open it. "What?" I asked, unable to keep the desperation from my voice.

"We must have the glasses."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Just let me look around for a minute, okay?" I hurried over and grabbed a stack of magazines from J'onn's hands, stuffing them under the couch before he could even blink. Then I searched the couch cushions, flipped over the chairs and then put them back in place, moved the rug and looked under it, opened the TV cabinet and moved everything inside, took another incriminating magazine from Linda, grabbed a bunch of trash and sorted through it before throwing it away, and swept away all the crumbled napkins and paper plates from the coffee table. I also had the time to shift a pile of bills away from Bats' probing eyes.

"They're definitely not in here," I finally said, coming to a complete stop about two seconds later. I was out of breath from hopping at super speed, and my bad ankle was throbbing.

"Wally, are you okay?" Linda hurried over to feel my forehead. "You're _sweating_."

"I sprained my ankle the other day, and reinjured it earlier today. It's kind of hard running on one leg," I admitted.

"Rest for a few minutes; you've been through a lot lately. We'll finish searching," Clark said kindly, giving me a trademark Boy Scout grin. I knew he meant well, but still. Did I _really_ want the Justice League searching my apartment from top to bottom? No, not really.

"No, it's okay. You don't have to–" I began desperately, but it was already too late. They were all splitting up to look around, Batman prowling through the mail on a table by the door.

There came another brisk knocking, from the wall beside the open window this time. "What?" I demanded, biting my lip to keep a flood of expletives from following.

"Hurry, we must have the glasses," Optimus said earnestly. "It is of the upmost importance that we find the Allspark and keep it away from the Decepticons."

"I know, okay? But you're _completely_ ruining my secret identity, Optimus!" I shouted out the window at him, ignoring the sounds of my personal belongings being tampered with behind me. "The people of Central City are gonna know I'm the Flash, and they're going to come after me _all the time_! They're going to try to kill people I care about, and they're going to always want autographs, and I'll never get a moment's peace! And if that's not enough, my landlady will probably become even nosier! She'll sell everything of mine she can get her hands on!"

Optimus rubbed the bridge of his nose, a surprisingly human gesture. "Calm down, calm down. Autobots, fall back." He shrank back into the shadows outside, the other Autobots following him. I could only hope they'd manage to stay out of sight a while longer.

The sound of breaking glass came from the vicinity of my bedroom, and I swore under my breath. I hopped in there, and found Superman staring sheepishly at a broken picture frame at his feet. "Sorry, Wally. It slipped out of my hands," he apologized, hanging his head.

"It doesn't matter," I said, moving to pick it up. He beat me to it, and held it up to the light, staring at the photo.

"Who's this?" The curiosity in his voice drew over both John and Linda, who had been searching the rest of the room.

I snatched the picture from his hands and stuffed it into a drawer of my dresser. "My dad. But I'd rather not talk about him right now. We never had…we didn't…never mind."

Supes nodded uncomfortably. "Okay, Wally. Whatever you want."

"Do you have _any_ ideas where these glasses could be?" GL asked me impatiently. "You're _supposed_ to be a superhero."

"What, so being a superhero is supposed to instantly turn me into a neat freak?" I demanded with a scowl.

Linda spared the others from having to answer by holding up something from the debris on my nightstand. "Wally, are these the right glasses?"

I sped over and snatched them from her, carefully cupping them in my hands. They were small and delicate, and I had the feeling that if I applied the slightest pressure, they would snap. They were also very familiar, definitely the ones Sam had given me at the family reunion. "These are the ones," I said excitedly. "Guys, I found them!"

Shayera burst into the room, the others close behind her. For a minute I thought she was coming to look at the glasses, then I realized that she looked worried. "Wally, I think the police are outside."

"_What_?" I yelped, just as the sound of sirens reached me from outside the apartment.

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All reviews will be happily read over and cherished. ^-^


	16. No Possible Escape

Chapter Fifteen: No Possible Escape

I hobbled quickly to the window, and drew back the curtains. Squinting through the dusty glass, I saw four black SUVs parked out front, red and blue lights flashing on top. Several men, dressed all in black, were piling out and heading for the building. They most definitely _weren't_ the Central City PD.

I at that moment swore so creatively that Superman actually blushed, though neither Shayera nor Linda looked fazed. Typical farm boy.

"What's all that noise outside?" GL appeared through the doorway, pausing to disapprovingly eye my unmade bed. Diana and Bats were right behind him, followed by J'onn. I assumed this meant Bruce had finished shuffling through my mail.

"Wally, what's going on? Are the police outside?" Diana made a move to peer over my shoulder out the window, but I quickly shooshed her away and pulled the drapes tightly closed again.

"Yes," I replied flatly, running both hands through my hair and glancing frantically about the room. "And I'm pretty sure they're here for me."

"_You_?" the Amazon gasped disbelievingly.

"Well _duh_. I'm hiding out in my apartment with a bunch of Justice League members, while giant robots pound on the window and shake the whole building in the process. I'm sure _someone_ called the police, who then apparently alerted the _government_."

Shayera said something that sounded like a cross between a sneeze and a cough, which I assumed to be a curse in her native language. "_Wonderful_. What are we supposed to do now?"

"We're the Justice League. All we have to do is tell whoever's out there that we have everything under control, and then we'll take the glasses up to the Watchtower," Supes said matter-of-factedly.

"What's it like on planet Superman-is-clueless?" I demanded, not caring if I was being rude. "I am _so_ not letting you go out there and compromise my secret identity even more than you guys already have, Clark! Especially not to a bunch of Feds."

"He's right. The government does not trust us as much as they should these days," J'onn pointed out sensibly. "They believe we are hiding many secrets from them, with the potential to topple world order. I doubt they would pause to listen to what we have to say."

"What, have you been reading up on conspiracy theories with Question or something?" I joked weakly.

"Are you sure about this?" Diana asked me, chewing worriedly on her lower lip.

"Not really. But I'll talk to them and cooperate, and maybe they'll leave me alone when they're done with their questions." I handed the glasses to Batman, who nodded once before slipping them into the depths of his cape. I normally would have given them to Shayera, but she probably would have broken them, knowing her. "Make sure the Autobots get those, and they can take care of the Decepticon threat and all that. Okay?"

"Be careful, hot shot," John told me seriously, then started to take Linda's arm.

"I'm not leaving him here by himself!" she exploded, jerking her arm away and glaring at the Green Lantern.

I couldn't help smiling triumphantly. Maybe I _was_ her favorite hero, after all. A guy could hope.

"It could be dangerous," Batman warned her gruffly.

"All the more reason not to abandon him!"

"Wally is a trained superhero," Diana said soothingly. "He can handle himself in situations like this. You really should come with us."

"No way." She tightly folded her arms over her chest, which I recognized as her stubborn, not-giving-up posture. "I'm not leaving him."

Superman rubbed his forehead. "We don't have time for thi–"

The doorbell rang.

I flew into action, speeding across the room and grabbing all my Flash costume rings from a drawer. I stuffed them into a small box installed inside the toilet tank for situations like this, then hurried back to the others. "Okay, out the back window. Go, go!" I hissed urgently.

They all hurried into the bathroom and started slipping out the window, while Linda walked calmly into the living room and sat down on the couch. I rolled my eyes at her resoluteness, then slammed and locked the window behind Shayera, almost crushing a wing.

Finally, just as the doorbell rang twice more, followed up by a barrage of impatient knocking, I raced over and opened the door, finding a group of the men from outside waiting expressionlessly.

"Hi?" I squeaked breathlessly. It took all my self-control not to grab at my injured ankle and hop up and down howling in pain from all the sudden movements. Because that would have been _mildly_ guilty.

"Wallace Rudolph West?" one of the men asked gruffly, stepping forward and looking me up and down.

Another man also stepped forward and waved what looked like a metal flashlight in front of my eyes. It beeped, then the man retreated back into the small crowd.

"Yeah…"

"Agent Simmons. We've been receiving a lot complainants about you today, kid. You need to come with us."

"He's not going _anywhere_ with you!" Linda shrieked, jumping to her feet and marching over. I suppressed the strong urge to slap one hand over my eyes.

Agent Simmons coolly glanced her up and down. "And _you_ are?"

"Linda Park, reporter. And you're not taking Wally _anywhere_!" my girlfriend snapped angrily.

Simmons chuckled derisively. "There's not much you can do about it, lady."

"I can call my boss and get a team of reporters out here so fast your pants will catch on fire." Linda smirked at him, like she thought this would make the group of men run away in fear.

"Is that a threat? That sounded like a threat."

"Uh, no it wasn't," I said. "She's just being, you know, herself. Ignore her. Really. Please?"

"Okay, bag 'em and tag 'em. We'll take both of them in." Agent Simmons turned and strode away, while a burly man grabbed one of my arms and another grabbed Linda. We were both dragged along towards the stairs.

"Where are you planning on taking us?" I shouted, ignoring the leering face of Dwight Bloome peering out his door.

"Sector Seven, son, Sector Seven. And don't even pretend you've heard of it, because little members of the populace like yourself definitely haven't." Not that he was smug about it or anything.

I stayed silent after this, shooting Linda a cautionary look that I hoped would shut her up. We were led downstairs, then out of the building. On the way, I hoped that their lack of questions about the workings of the Watchtower meant they were completely oblivious about my alter ego. Maybe they'd thought all the people calling in about masked superheroes were delusional. Hey, everyone got a lucky break once in a while, right?

That's when we emerged from the building, and my heart sank. In the center of the parking lot was none other than Bumblebee, struggling as many other men swarmed around him. They had just finished tying him down with impossibly thick strands of wire. The other Autobots were long gone.

"Hey! Hey, what are you _doing_?" I yelped, struggling against the firm grip on my upper arm. "Leave him alone!"

Agent Simmons turned to me with the predatory smirk of a man who knew he was totally in charge. "Who, the extraterrestrial? He's going in. Just like you, you little weasel, and your snappy girlfriend. We're gonna study him, and we're gonna take him apart. How's that make you feel?" He sneered menacingly at me.

Even as I felt my Irish temper bubbling hotly to the surface, I purposely slumped my shoulders and tried to look completely defeated. The grip on my arm loosened slightly, which was the opportunity I'd been waiting for. Using a discreet burst of vibration in my arm, which could very easily be overlooked by anyone not watching closely enough, I pulled free and threw myself towards Bee.

"Stop it! Let him go! _Stop_!" I yelled, shoving two of the men binding Bee aside. I fumbled for the lock on one of the wires, trying to undo it and let the Autobot go free, then a strong uppercut abruptly slammed into the side of my face.

I saw a flash of white light, and dimly heard a loud cracking sound. Then I toppled hard to the ground, grayness flickering around the edges of my vision. I only vaguely felt the many hands grabbing me, hauling me back to my feet. These hands were anything but gentle.

Once I was back on my feet, head lolling dazedly forward, Simmons was looming up in my line of vision. "Bratty kids like you can _disappear_ at Sector Seven, little twerp. They can _die_. You wanna take that chance with you and your little girlfriend?"

I tried to say something, but my lips wouldn't form the right words. Simmons kicked me in the ankle – my bad one, _naturally _– then gestured sharply at something I couldn't see. I was dragged unceremoniously backwards to the soundtrack of Linda shouting obscenities at the black-clad collection of men. I was stuffed into one of the black SUVs, and the door was slammed in my face.

Blackness began descending as Linda was shoved in from the other side. The last thing I saw was GL holding Shayera back at the edge of apartment roof, both wearing extremely worried expressions.

* * *

When I next regained consciousness, I was stretched out on a cold metal floor. Linda was sitting beside me, shoulders slumped, staring towards a door.

"Linda?" I quickly sat up as she jumped. She threw her arms around my neck and almost strangled me in a hug. "What's going on? Where are we?"

"I don't know, Wally, I don't know," she shrilled, finally releasing her grip around my neck. "Those so-called _Sector Seven_ people brought us here about twenty minutes ago. We've been here ever since."

"How long was I out?"

"Don't look at me. They blindfolded us on the way here." Linda paused, scowling at me. "That was a _really_ stupid move back there, Wally. Trying to be all heroic and save Bumblebee. There was nothing you could do."

I shrugged uncomfortably, not meeting her eyes. "Yeah, well I had to try." Taking a deep breath, I slowly got to my feet, then helped her stand as well. My ankle was complaining very loudly, while I gamely tried to ignore.

"What now? They're probably going to leave us here to rot for eternity," Linda said flatly.

"Not if I have anything to say about it. Block me from the camera, will you?" I gestured over my shoulder at the blinking camera mounted on the wall, then waited until Linda had dutifully done as I'd asked. Then I stepped close to the large door and pressed one fist against the knob. Swiftly vibrating my molecules, it only took a few seconds before the metal was smoking. I casually opened the door, motioned for Linda to follow me, then slipped out into the corridor.

"How did you _do_ that?" Linda grabbed my arm, nearly pulling me to the floor.

Arching a brow at her, I touched my finger to my lips to indicate that she should be quiet. Then I quickly took in our new surroundings. We were standing in a wide corridor made entirely of metal. Fluorescent lights gleamed brightly, banishing every single shadow that could have ever been there. Not the best place to hide, but it would have to do. Taking Linda's hand, I pulled her off down the corridor.

"Wally, where are we going?"

"I don't know yet. But I'll tell you when we get there, okay?" I muttered, trying to channel some mysterious superhero vibes, aka Batman.

We passed door after door, all of them tightly closed and locked. I didn't risk trying to open them, knowing they were probably just questioning cells just like where Linda and I had been locked up. Though I did wonder why we hadn't set off any heat sensors or alarms yet. That's always what happened in the movies, after all.

We must have been walking at least five minutes, without encountering a single person, before we finally came to the end of the corridor. A wide doorway opened before us, and I walked through it with a shrug. What harm could being caught again do? Surely the League was working to get us out of here.

Good thing I had that thought when I did, because that's the exact moment we stepped into the room full of people. They turned away from the enormous shape they were grouped around, staring at, and stared at Linda and I instead.

I waved. "Uh, hi there! I was just looking for the little boys' room."

Agent Simmons stepped from the crowd, causing me to notice him for the first time. "It's the little redheaded weasel and his girlfriend. Take 'em back to their cell."

"No, no, no! Wait _just_ a minute! Can't we talk about this?" I asked desperately, frantically waving both hands at the pair of black-clad dudes advancing on us.

"I don't think so, kid. Now get the hell back to your cell."

"Wally," Linda suddenly breathed, clutching my arm. "Look." She pointed past the men, and I turned my attention for the first time to the object that the men had been staring at.

It was an Autobot. A big one.

My jaw dropped as I stared up at the jagged hunk of metal that towered above us. It was standing straight up, frozen in place and secured by incredibly thick cables that hung from the ceiling above. Its eyes were dull and void of any light.

That's when it hit me. Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons. The one who Optimus and all the others were searching for. The one who had come here for the Allspark.

"That's…that's…" I sputtered, pointing up at who I guessed to be Megatron.

Linda punched me in the arm, effectively silencing my stutters. I got her meaning immediately: we shouldn't let these guys know what we knew if we could keep from telling them.

Simmons seemed interested in my reaction, and gestured for his goons to stop. He walked over to us, smirking like the cat who had swallowed the canary. "You know aliens, kid?"

"Al…aliens?"

"Yeah, aliens. We think this thing's an alien." Simmons jerked a thumb at the hunk of metal that was Megatron. "What do _you_ think?"

"Oh. Oh, right. Aliens." I laughed nervously. "You mean a Martian, like J'onn J'onzz? I'm pretty sure that Martians are, you know, green."

"Don't gimme that," Simmons snarled dangerously. "I know that you know what I know you know, kid."

I blinked, trying to follow his warped reasoning. "Uh…okay. You wanna know what I think that thing is? Tell me what _you_ know, and I'll tell you what _I_ know. How's that sound?"

Linda sharply elbowed me in the side, and I tried not to collapse in a gasping heap on the floor. "Wally, are you _sure_ you know what you're doing?" she hissed at me.

"Of course I do. I've got this in the _bag_," I said smugly.

"Okay, fine," Simmons said reluctantly, beady eyes glittering. "Tell me everything, kid."

**

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Recensione, recensione, recensione! :P


	17. NBE1

Chapter Sixteen: NBE1

I stared Simmons down, hoping my eyes resembled shards of ice. Though the way my luck had been going so far, I doubted it. "No, you first. I insist," I said through gritted teeth, trying to stay as polite as humanly possible.

"You have to tell me first, kid. A deal's a deal," Simmons pressed.

"I know that a deal's a deal. That's why _you're_ supposed to go first. That was the deal, remember?"

"The deal was that _you_ go first, you little weasel."

"_No_, it's that you go…hey! Why the heck do you keep calling me a little weasel?" I demanded, scowling. "Do I look remotely weasel-y? Or even _little_?"

"No, Wally," Linda said wearily, rubbing her forehead.

Simmons raised both eyebrows and leaned almost disturbingly close to me. "It's all in the eye of the beholder."

I swiftly stepped away from him again. "Okay, whatever. And _my_ eye is saying you go first or my lips stay sealed."

Simmons didn't look too pleased at this, turning to one of his black-clad cronies. "Didn't he say that he was gonna go first?"

One of the men uncomfortably cleared his throat. "Uh…no. He said that if you went first, he'd tell you everything. Sir."

Simmons frowned, and folded his arms. "Fine," he muttered under his breath. "If that's how you want to play it, kid, that's how we'll play it."

I lightly elbowed Linda in the side. "See?" I muttered to her. "I'm very professional about all this. I handle people who aren't right in the head _all_ the time. Easy-peasy."

"So!" Simmons suddenly barked, causing me to jump several feet into the air. Unfortunately, this move totally ruined my previous statement, so I awkwardly avoided looking at Linda. "This is the NBE1! N. B. E. _One_." He specially emphasized these letters and the single number the second time around, like they held lots of significance.

"O_kay_…" I said slowly, then raised my hand.

"What?" Simmons snapped impatiently.

"What does NBE1 _mean_, exactly?"

"Non-biological extraterrestrial!" he bellowed into my face. "Keep up with the acronyms, kid!"

I nodded mutely.

Simmons gestured sharply at Megatron, looking back and forth between Linda and I. "That thing, the NBE1, we think it crashed it crashed thousands of years ago in the Arctic. The pressure and heat generated by entering the Earth's atmosphere likely damaged its subatomic structure. A man by the name of Archibald Witwicky found the NBE1 in a crater in the ice."

"Oh, really?" I asked innocently.

"Yeah, really!" he snapped, obviously irritated. "We had it shipped to a secure facility in 1935, to be experimented on. You're lookin' at the source of the modern age right there. We reverse-engineered most of the technology around today from the NBE1: computers, flight, cell phones, microwaves. You name it. Even that big Watchtower thing the Justice League's got has some reverse-engineered parts on it, I've heard."

"_Really_?" I asked, genuinely interested. I bet even Bats didn't know how the parts for the Watchtower had been invented. It was shocking to think that I actually knew something he didn't.

"Why did the NBE1 come to Earth?" Linda spoke up.

Simmons gravely shook his head. "We don't know. But we think it came here…for the Cube."

"The what?" I blurted out.

* * *

Five minutes later, Simmons led Linda and I into another room. He'd been blithering the whole walk there about the NBE1 and the so-called Cube, but I'd mostly tuned him out. How I wished that my comm. link had survived the police car attack. Because if this Cube thing was what I thought it was, the League and Autobots needed to get over here, stat.

We entered a small room with only three solid walls. The final wall, straight ahead, was made entirely of polished glass. But the room itself wasn't what caught my attention. I moved forward to gawk down at the scene revealed on the other side of the window.

An enormous square of glistening metal had been placed in the center of the other room. It shone with an inner light, despite the rust speckled faintly across it in some places. Incredibly detailed carvings covered the whole thing. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before, even in all my time with the Justice League.

"Oh my God," Linda whispered, coming up behind me. "It's beautiful."

"The First Seven discovered it in 1913," Simmons said importantly. "They knew it was alien. So President Hoover had a dam built around it to keep it undetectable from the outside."

Linda took my hand, her brow wrinkled prettily. "What is it?" she breathed, as though afraid to speak too loudly and ruin the tranquility of the massive apparatus. I felt much the same as she did.

"No one knows. Only that it's _alien_," Simmons said wisely, leering at her.

"I think it's the Allspark," I answered her, totally ignoring the behemoth behind us.

"The what?" he demanded.

"That thing they've been looking for?"

I nodded. "Yeah, what else could it be? We spent all that time looking around for the glasses, but the Allspark was here all along." I wished more than ever that I had my comm. with me right then, but it couldn't be helped. I had to find another way to contact them.

"What the hell are you talking about? Want me to throw you back in that cell and throw away the key?"

"What do we do now?" Linda wondered, biting her lip.

"We need to let the others know, so they can come and get it. And we need to get Bumblebee out of here."

Simmons was apparently getting bored, with neither of us paying attention to him. He looked like he might start having a temper tantrum any moment. "You have ten seconds to tell me what you're talking about before I throw you back in your cell to rot forev–" He broke off and touched his ear, looking irritated.

"Communicator," I disclosed to Linda, who nodded.

"Yeah, it's Simmons," he said in a tight voice. "I've got the kid and his girlfriend with me right now, and I'm...we're going to _what_? Yeah, I know. Fine. Okay. We're in sector thirteen right now. Yeah. I'll bring them to corridor eleven." He finally turned to us, a heavy scowl settling across his features. "Come on, kid. You get a lucky break today, it would seem."

"What's going on?" I wanted to know, wary about going anywhere suspicious with the guy. He was a few slices of cheese short of a toasted cheese sandwich, in my opinion.

He headed for the door, and Linda and I rushed to follow him. "You two are outta here. Some of those high-authority Justice League clowns are here to take you home. Said you're their contact in some _import__ant matter_."

I exchanged a grin with Linda, who looked positively thrilled. I couldn't blame her; we hadn't exactly been hanging out in the best of places together recently.

"So I can go? Free of charge?" I asked guardedly, as we followed him down the corridor.

"Uh-huh. But don't think we won't be watching," he was quick to add.

In other words, I was free of charge. And there was nothing he could do about it. This thought made me almost unreasonably happy.

Just ahead, I could see four armed guards waiting with Bats, Shayera, and GL. All three of them were carefully expressionless, for which I was grateful. At least they were trying their best to pretend like they didn't know me on a personal basis.

"You're going to come with us, West," Batman said darkly. "You too, Ms. Park."

I was pleased to see that Linda didn't swoon over the fact that the fabled Batman knew her name.

"This way," Shayera said in a cold voice, though I could tell from the look in her eyes that she couldn't wait to get us out of there.

Simmons grabbed me by the sleeve before I could leave, leering melodramatically. "Stay out of trouble. Remember, I'll be _watching_."

"Right back at you, dude," I said, feeling cocky with three superheroes to back me up.

"_Wally_," Linda ground out at me, tugging my arm. "Let's just–"

Something blew up, a muffled boom sounding through the corridor. The lights flickered, barely managing to stay on.

"What the hell? What's going on?" Simmons shouted at the four men. "Get me some answers, people!"

"They know where the Allspark is," I realized in a low voice, eyes widening. "They're here."

"What do you know, kid?" Simmons demanded, looming disturbingly close to my face. "Tell me everything!"

"Some more of those NBEs are coming, Simmons. They're going to take the Cube," I told him, using the shortened explanation.

"_What_?"

"Wally, what's going on?" John took my arm and pulled me aside. "Did you just say you know something new about the Allspark?"

"Yeah, you could say that. It's here. In the building. And the Decepticons are coming to get it," I said quickly, words blurring together.

The lights flickered again.

A burst of inspiration struck me, and I turned back to Simmons. "I need my car."

"You need your what?"

"My car. I need my car. The yellow robot thing you brought in with Linda and I. He'll know what to do."

"I don't think so, kid. I'm not releasing government property to you, especially when it's extraterrestrial in origin."

No one saw Shayera coming until it was too late. She pinned Simmons to the wall with one arm across his throat, ignoring both his strangled croaks of terror and the guards who had started shouting when she attacked. "You heard him. The car. Now. We clear?" He made a strangled croaking sound that could have been an assent, then she casually let him go and stepped back. "Glad we had this little talk."

Simmons rubbed his throat, alternating between glaring at the five dudes in black clothes and Shayera. "Come on," he muttered crossly, turning on his heel and marching away.

I hurried to follow him, more from habit than anything else, and Linda followed suit. Batman, Shayera, and John fell in step beside me, while the five guys went the opposite way. They'd apparently decided than none of us provided much of a threat. Either that, or they'd gone to report everything I'd said to their supervisors.

"You okay, hot shot?" GL asked me, a small crease across his forehead. "Things got pretty intense back at your place."

I bit my tongue before I could say anything too rash. I really was tired of the whole helpless-little-sidekick role that everyone seemed to expect me to play. I was as much of a superhero as any of the rest of the League. And when I really _did_ need help, they didn't believe me. As I had experienced a lot these past few days. "Yeah, I'm fine. We just need to get Bee out and take the Allspark to Optimus," I said.

"The extraterrestrial's in here," Simmons grunted, stopping at a door and punching in a code. As the rest of us approached, the door swung open. It was huge, like the world's biggest garage door, which explained how they'd gotten Bee inside.

In the center of the cavernous room, Bee was surrounded by what looked like a transparent forcefield of some sort. Not that I was any expert on forcefields, but I'd seen enough episodes of _Star Trek_ to recognize one when I saw it. Lots more men in black scurried around, pointing laser weaponry at him and occasionally lashing out with long, coiled whips. Every time one of the whips made contact, sparks flew from Bee's armor.

"Hey! Hey, get away from him!" I shouted, waving my arms frantically. I limped quickly over and started shoving all the men away from the helpless Autobot. Shayera flapped her wings a couple of times to propel herself over, then helped me out.

"Leave the robot alone!" Simmons ordered loudly, though only a couple of guys actually listened to him. Shayera and I took care of the rest.

The forcefield flickered and died. Bee staggered in place, as though regaining his balance, then dropped into a crouch. A yellow visor dropped into place over his face, like some kind of battle helmet, then he lowered his guns and began whipping them around the room. I was instantly reminded of a cornered wild animal. But who could blame the guy? Er…robot. He'd just been held captive and tortured; he had a right to be a little pissed off.

"West! Do something," came Batman's threatening voice, from just behind me.

"Bumblebee, it's me!" I paused and winced theatrically as I realized that my words had unintentionally rhymed. No wonder the others thought of me as a clown instead of an actual superhero. "Don't hurt these guys, okay? They're too stupid to know any better. But I'm not gonna let them hurt you again."

Bee glared down at me, making it obvious that he didn't believe me.

"Really. I promise you that these guys are going to stay away from you from now on, Bee," I said earnestly, crossing my fingers behind my back. "And guess what. We found the Allspark. It's here. And we have to get it to safety, because the Decepticons are attacking. Are you going to help us get it to safety or not?"

"Please, Bumblebee," Linda chimed in, stepping up beside me. "We can't do this without your help."

I looked gratefully at her, and she reached out and squeezed my hand.

Bumblebee's helmet slid away, and a burst of static crackled from his speakers. Simmons and all the other guys leaped back in shock; they'd probably thought he was a mute 'extraterrestrial' that they could torture all they wanted. _"Thought I'd never see the day," _he warbled.

"But you can see it now, buddy. We've found the Allspark, and all we need to do is get it out of here," I told him with a grin.

"You," Batman barked at Simmons, who looked suitably frightened. "Take us to the Allspark."

"The Cube," I clarified quickly. "He means the Cube."

"Fine. You want the Cube? I'll give you the Cube." Simmons turned and hurried back out of the room, while the rest of us followed him.

* * *

Instead of walking to the overlooking room with three walls, this time we went straight to the source. The Allspark seemed even bigger now that I was actually in the same room with it, and I couldn't help gaping up at it as we approached. The hairs on my arms were slowly rising at the sight of it, like there was some weird electric current flowing through the air. And for all I knew, there could have been.

"So that's the Allspark," GL said as we advanced on it. "Thought it'd be smaller."

"How in Rao's name are we supposed to get that thing out of here?" Shayera wondered, frowning.

"I'd better call the others," Bats decided, touching his comm. "Batman to Watchtower, come in. Batman to Watchtower. This is a code 35, an Omega level alarm. Come in."

"Where are Supes and J'onn, anyway?" I asked curiously. "And Diana?" They hadn't come to free me and Linda, so I assumed they were busy with other things. Maybe Lex had broken out of jail again.

"J'onn went back to the Watchtower, I think. Diana and Superman took the glasses and went with the Autobots to decipher the map," Shayera told me. "Though it looks like they didn't really need to."

"I know, I'm a genius. You don't have to tell me twice," I bragged.

"I won't even tell you once," GL said, lightly slapping me on the back of the head as we walked. "All you did was get yourself brought in for questioning and stumble across the Allspark."

"That's _exactly_ what happened," Linda said teasingly.

"Hey!"

"I can't contact the Watchtower," Batman said grimly, changing the subject again. "That means the teleporters are probably down, too."

"Yeah, they were having trouble when we left earlier," I remembered.

"So we're in this alone," Linda realized in a small voice. "None of the others can get down here to help."

"That's right," GL agreed solemnly, just as the lights flickered again.

We stopped a few feet from the Allspark, while Bee continued until he was right beside it. Even he looked small compared to the thing. Cocking his head to one side, he reached out and touched it. Apparently reacting to his touch, the Cube began shrinking, right before our eyes. I stared with awe, mouth dropping open.

"Holy…" Simmons said.

"I think _that's_ how we'll get it out of here," Shayera told John in a quiet voice.

The whole process only took a few seconds, then Bee stood there holding the Allspark. Now it looked tiny compared to his bulk, instead of the other way around.

"What now?" Linda asked. "The Decepticons are outside, right? We need to take the Allspark somewhere they can't find it."

"She's right. We need to take the Allspark into the city and hide it," John said. "It's the only thing we can do until the Watchtower is back online."

"Wait just a minute. I don't care if any of you are Superman himself," Simmons burst out. "I'm not letting you just waltz off with that Cube. I'm sending some of my men with you." He gestured towards some of the soldiers standing on the sidelines. "Go on, all of you. Get the cars ready. Go, go!"

John slapped one hand over his face. "Judas Priest," he muttered under his breath.

"My thoughts exactly," I agreed. Turning to Bumblebee, I called up to him, "Ready for a trip to the city, Bee?"

"_I'm ready when you are, when you are!"_

"I think that's a yes," Linda noted.

Alarms suddenly began sounding all around us.

"What the hell is that?" Shayera barked at Simmons, dangerously waving her mace.

Simmons had gone very pale, and for a minute I thought he was terrified of Shayera. Then his next words made me understand just what he was so afraid of. "It's a signal that…that NBE1 is defrosting," he croaked.

"Oh, _crap_," I said, several more colorful words I'd learned from my dad coming to mind. For the benefit of those present around me, I kept my mouth shut.

"This isn't good," Linda whispered, brow furrowing.

"What is it? What's going on?" GL asked me, looking confused.

"NBE1 is Megatron. _Leader_ of the Decepticons," I told him, feeling a surge of adrenalin starting to pound through me.

"He's in the building?" Batman demanded in his Scary Voice.

"Yeah. They've apparently got him frozen in this giant block of ice, like five corridors over," I said.

"And you didn't think to tell us before?" John yelled over the alarms.

"Well, I had other things on my mind at the time!"

Shayera swore, evidently not caring about our sensitive ears. "We need to leave. Now."

Bee promptly dropped back into car form with a clatter, while Simmons jumped back in surprise.

"I think that's our cue." I hurried over and opened the passenger door. Linda slipped in and crawled to the backseat, but I didn't join her. "Come on, guys. We'd better get out of here," I told the others, gesturing urgently at the open door.

"Some of us need to stay and help," Batman contradicted forebodingly. "Lantern and I will keep trying to contact the Watchtower, and delay Megatron as long as we can."

"What?" I yelped with disbelief. "Bats, this guy is _huge_! I've seen him with my own eyes! Not even Supes would really stand a chance against him!"

"He's right, Batman," John agreed, eyes flashing a brilliant emerald color. "You go with them, and help hide the Allspark. I'll stay and delay Megatron. My ring should give him a surprise wake-up call."

"We can't just leave you here, John!" Shayera protested.

"You've got to. Linda and Wally can't do this without the two of you."

"Hey! I may have a sprained ankle, but I've still got my sp…usefulness," I finished lamely. I had remembered just in time that it probably wasn't a good idea to start shouting about my powers in the middle of _this_ place, where anyone could hear.

"Are you going to go, or are you going to stand around and argue all day?" Simmons demanded pointedly.

"Lantern's right. We need to get the Allspark away from here before Megatron gets it," Batman said, striding towards Bumblebee. He leaned in and grabbed the Cube from where it rested on the driver's seat, then climbed into the back with Linda.

"Shay, come on." I tried to ignore the growing amusement I felt at seeing Batman climb into the back of a canary-yellow Camaro, dressed all in black. "We've got to go."

She looked torn, glancing towards GL. "John–"

"Go, Shayera. I can hold my own," he told her firmly.

I reached out and grabbed Shayera's hand, pulling her towards me. Then I stuffed her unceremoniously inside and ran around to the driver's side. Opening the door, I paused to look towards GL.

"Good luck," I said, wondering why I had the sinking feeling that I would never see him again. Telling myself that it was just my imagination, I climbed in and slammed the door.

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Reviews would be lovely. :D


	18. It Begins

Chapter Seventeen: It Begins

Bumblebee was speeding towards the nearest city, three black government cars right behind him. The other cars on the highway around us were flashing past at speeds I usually only saw when I was running. It was weird to be going this fast when sitting down, especially when I was sitting in the driver's seat, and not even driving the car.

"What are we going to do when we get there?" Linda asked from the backseat. I turned around to look at her, and saw that she looked very worried.

"We're going to hide the Allspark somewhere, I guess," I replied, looking to Bats for clarification.

"Somewhere the Decepticons won't think to look," he agreed grimly. "Then we'll wait until the Watchtower comes online again and lock it in a secure vault up there."

"I can't believe you guys made John stay back there on his own," Shayera said suddenly, arms folded tightly over her chest. "That Megatron thing could _kill_ him, especially without any back-up!"

"Supes and Diana are still around somewhere," I said, trying to cheer her up a little. "I'm sure John'll be able to contact them soon."

"But you said even Clark wouldn't stand a chance against that thing," she said accusingly.

I grimaced; I'd been hoping she wouldn't remember me saying that. "But Supes, John, _and_ Diana will be able to beat him. Probably," I offered lamely. I cringed as an expression of pure rage crossed Shayera's face.

"We've got company," Batman spoke up, interrupting before my adopted big sis could lunge across from the passenger seat and throttle me.

I spun around again to peer out the window, just in time to see a large truck that had been passing in the other direction perform a very illegal U-turn and pull in behind us. I immediately recognized the spectacular red and blue paintjob, as well as the other three cars behind the truck. "That's Optimus!" I realized with a grin.

"Can't you contact him or something? Send him back to help John?" Shayera asked, staring hard at Bee's radio system.

"No, Shayera," I said, swatting her hand away as she started to fiddle with the many buttons and switches. "We need Optimus to help us with the Allspark. Megatron can't be the only Decepticon out there. Besides, John will be just fine. Trust me."

"J'onn's the telepath, not you," she muttered pessimistically. "So don't try to tell me he'll be fine, _Wallace_."

I swallowed hard. She had never reminded me more of the big sister I never had than at that very moment.

Linda spoke up from the back, voice apprehensive. "Wally…" Something in her voice made me look up in the rearview mirror, scanning the traffic behind us. What I saw made my jaw drop.

"No no no no no no no," I blurted, twisting around to peer past Linda and Bats, out the back window. "That's the same cop car that attacked me back at the car park!" The sleek police cruiser was veering in and out of traffic, swiftly gaining on us. And the huge armored truck rattling along behind it didn't look very reassuring, either.

"Can this thing go any faster?" Shayera shouted. Bumblebee instantly kicked his speed up a notch in response to her demand, tires shrieking on the pavement.

I continued to stare as the armored truck abruptly skidded to a stop, slamming into several other cars and sending them flying. Its outer exterior began to blur around the edges, and I stared as it slowly transformed into its enormous Decepticon shape. Not as big as Megatron, but still pretty close. As it changed, it crashed through an overhead bridge and sent pieces of it flying across the crowded roadway.

"Oh my God," Linda whispered with horror.

Optimus had apparently figured out what was going on behind us, and veered out of our line of vehicles. In the next lane, he also changed, shape rearranging itself with startling speed. He leapt over several cars to avoid crushing them, then headed back for the pair of Decepticons.

The once-armored-truck Decepticon threw itself at Optimus, and they rolled across the many lanes of traffic. I clearly felt the impact, even though we were already leaving them far behind us. The whole car rocked, and Bumblebee barely kept from swerving off the road.

"We have to go back!" I cried, as the dramatic scene vanished behind us. "Optimus needs our help!"

"We can't," Batman said darkly, gesturing to the Allspark sitting on his lap. "We have to get this to the city."

My teeth gritted together hard, but I turned around to face the front again.

Less than ten minutes passed before we reached the city. As we drove through the streets, there were jets streaking by overhead and lots of military guys either driving tanks or running around with guns. Green smoke was everywhere. It was like something from a movie.

Bee came to a stop near the center of the city, and we all piled out. Batman continued to hold the Allspark, while men from the government vehicles that had been following us hurried to form a perimeter around the coveted device. At the same time, all the Autobots transformed into their natural shapes.

"Does this happen to you often?" Linda asked me hesitantly. I could tell by the look on her face that she wanted me to say yes, that all this was perfectly natural. That I was totally in my element.

Which I wasn't. Even the League didn't go out and do stuff like this daily. We dealt with more along the lines of Grodd and Lex Luthor. Nothing this hardcore.

"Yeah," I lied, giving her hand a quick squeeze. "Absolutely nothing to worry about, Lin."

Something roared past overhead, right on cue. "It's Starscream!" one of the Autobots – I think it was Ironhide – bellowed. "Back up, everyone, take cover! Bumblebee!"

Even the armed soldiers scattered at such a warning. I tugged Linda after me, the sound of the thing in the sky above us getting louder and louder. Focusing on a parked SUV just ahead, I limped as fast as I possibly could without showing myself to be the Flash, throwing myself to the ground and pulling her down with me. I had the briefest of moments to hope that Shayera and Batman had gotten to cover, then chaos struck from above.

A sound like a nuclear bomb went off all around me, and heat washed over my body. I dimly heard Linda screaming, and tugged her closer to me, covering her body with mine as best I could. I think I almost lost consciousness as several sharp pieces of shrapnel dug into me, but then it was over, as abruptly as it had begun.

I sat up, dazed, and wiped something wet from my forehead. My hand came away red with blood. "You okay?" I shouted, hardly able to hear my own voice through the ringing in my ears.

Linda slowly moving into a sitting position, looking none of the worse for wear, except for a big tear in the fabric of her shirt. She nodded shakily.

Relieved that my girlfriend wasn't hurt, I crawled out from behind the SUV. Flaming debris was everywhere, along with thick plumes of smoke. I saw Shayera and Batman looking out from an alley across the street, and was reassured when I saw that neither of them seemed to be injured. Bats still clutched the precious Allspark to his chest.

That's when I saw Bumblebee.

He was in the middle of the debris, struggling to crawl away from the smoke and flames. His lower half was completely missing, except for a few jagged pieces of metal.

I felt a surge of horror go through me, then leapt to my feet and ran towards the downed Autobot. "Ratchet!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, skidding to a stop beside Bee. He was still trying in vain to crawl away, making strange crooning noises of pain. "Come on, Bee, you've got to get up! Please get up! Ratchet, I need help over here!"

Linda was suddenly behind me, gently touching my shoulder. Tears were overflowing down her cheeks.

"I don't think he can, Wally." Shayera appeared beside me, smoke staining her clothes and wings. "Just–"

I ignored her, crouching down beside him. "You can do this, Bee! Come on, just get _up_!"

"_And I just wanted to say, I'm sorry,"_ he croaked, which didn't help the wetness I could feel steadily building in my eyes.

Another explosion rocked my world, along with a thunderous crash that signaled part of a building caving in. When I looked up, I saw the armored truck from before rolling carelessly over parked cars, crushing them like helpless bugs. Several jets that didn't exactly look normal streaked by overhead, firing missiles down at us.

Everything felt like it had slipped into slow motion at that very moment. It was just us against the invaders now. There would be no help from any of the Unlimited members of the Justice League, or even any of the really powerful Founders. What happened here today would determine the fate of planet Earth and all its people.

"Wally, we've got to go help them!" Shayera's voice cut through my stupor, pulling me back to the real world. Time snapped back to speed. "Those people are going to get slaughtered!"

I sank to the ground besides Bee, whose efforts to get up had finally stilled. The blue sparks in his eyes seemed duller, though maybe it was only my imagination. "I'm not leaving him!" I shouted stubbornly, focusing my FlashGlare at both Shayera and Bats. It probably wasn't all that scary, but at least I tried.

"Don't be stupid, West!" Batman snapped, clearly not fazed by my attempt to psyche him out. He tossed the Allspark at me, which I easily caught with a discreet burst of speed. "The Allspark is what's important. You can't help Bumblebee right now; no one can."

"That's no excuse to just leave him here!" I retorted hotly. "Look at all he's done for us, Bats!"

"Hey, kid! Is that the Allspark thing?" Two men jogged up towards us, both sweaty and covered with dust. I recognized them as two of the men who had been there when the Cube had been shrunken down. I nodded in response to his question, and he quickly went on, "Captain Lennox. We've got a chopper coming in ten to pick it up and take it to a secure facility."

"We're going to take it to a protected vault at the Watchtower," Batman interrupted darkly, eyes narrowing to narrow slights. "As soon as the systems come back online and allow us communication."

"We don't have time to wait for your communications, Batman," Lennox said, obviously recognizing the black-cowled hero. "We need to get the Allspark to safety _now_."

"We have higher jurisdiction–"

"He's right, Batman," Shayera interrupted, effectively silencing him. "We're sitting ducks right now, and the only place the Allspark is going to be safe is in a government facility."

"Because that worked so well the last time," he said, using a bit of uncharacteristic sarcasm. He was obviously starting to feel a little frustrated.

"The two of you can come along and guard the Allspark, if that would make you feel better about it," Lennox said diplomatically. For a minute, I was minorly offended that he hadn't included me in the offer, then remembered that I wasn't exactly in costume at the moment. "But the kid needs to get the Allspark to the chopper before it shows, and before some of those Decepticons get over here."

"Why me?" I asked.

"You're the one who has it, aren't you? That must mean something." He handed me a flare, which I reluctantly took. "You see that building over there? The one with the statues on top? Strike this when you get to the roof, and the chopper will come for the Cube."

I chewed my lower lip. "I can't just leave Bee here–"

"You have to," Batman suddenly snapped, tugging to my feet before I could react. "This is all down to you, Wally, so get your ass to that building."

I looked one last time at Bee, then turned to the others. "Okay, I'm ready."

Lennox slapped me on the shoulder. "Great, kid. I've already given your description to the people in the helicopter. Good luck."

"Look!" Shayera pointed to the sky, where a jet was shooting right towards us.

"Oh my God," Linda said, eyes round.

"Here we go!" Shayera shouted, brandishing her mace as she prepared for battle.

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Please review, everyone. :D If you can believe it, we're getting close to the end of this story…


	19. Wings Would Be Handy

Chapter Eighteen: Wings Would Be Handy

The Autobots all raced forward and started attacking the many Decepticons. From what I could tell through the chaos of the battle, there were more bad guys than good ones. And those were never very great odds.

"How am I supposed to get to the building without one of those guys getting me?" I shouted over the sounds of battle.

"Can't you just use your speed or something?" Linda cried, shielding her face with one arm as a piece of debris sailed past.

"Sprained ankle, remember?" I pointed out, and winced as the heat of a nearby explosion seared my unprotected skin.

"I'll take you," Shayera decided briskly. "I've got wings, and we can just fly to that building. Problem solved."

"No offense, Shay, but I'm heavier than I look," I said.

She looked me up and down, smirking. "I don't think so."

"Hey!" I exclaimed heatedly, scowling at her.

I suddenly heard Ratchet's voice ring out over the noise before I could respond, "It's Megatron! Retreat, fall back!" Another fiery explosion drowned out anything else he might have said.

"Oh crap," I swore, glancing around for signs of the Decepticon leader. I wasn't sure what his car form was, so there was no way to pick him out in the transformer mêlée. There were too many Decepticons and Autobots swarming all around us, going head-to-head.

"We've got to get out of here," Linda said urgently. She turned to me, looking panicked. "Wally, get that Allspark to the building!"

"Can you guys get Bee out of here? He's defenseless; Megatron will probably kill him," I pleaded, turning my best puppy dog eyes on Bats. His jaw tightened, then he turned and ran wordlessly towards an abandoned tow truck, cape streaming out behind him. I watched as he pulled himself up into the driver's seat and started messing around with something out of my line of sight. I assumed that meant he was going to work some Bat magic and get Bumblebee to safety, for which I was very grateful. Maybe he didn't have the heart of stone everyone thought he did.

"Be careful." Linda pressed a quick kiss to my cheek, then stepped away again. I could tell she was trying hard to keep her cool, even though nothing remotely like this had ever happened to her before.

I nodded briskly, tucking the flare Lennox had given me into my pocket, and turned to Shayera again. "So how's this gonna go down?" I asked, trying to sound manly for Linda's benefit.

She smirked, then grabbed me by the armpits. It was all I could do to hold onto the Allspark as she heaved me into the air. "Never mind, I take it back," she grunted. "You _are_ heavier than you look."

I wasn't sure if I should be offended or not, but was distracted by the sight of Optimus pulling up in the middle of the street. Other than his paint looking a bit scratched, he seemed okay. I was immensely relieved to see him. He could probably help even the odds a lot with the Decepticons.

Then I saw a freshly-transformed Decepticon turning towards us, red eyes glinting with fury. I immediately recognized that hateful face, and gestured frantically at Shayera. "Go, go!"

"What am I, a horse?" she demanded irritably, but pushed off from the ground nonetheless. Several flaps of her feathered wings got us into the air, but we were no more than eight or nine feet from the ground, as I worriedly noted. I assumed she couldn't go any higher because of the added weight, and wisely didn't say anything. Even if we _were_ in the middle of a battle, it probably wouldn't take much to make her drop me.

I tried to keep my eyes firmly averted from the ground, having no desire to see the ground rushing past below. I didn't like flying, and never had. I usually started feeling sick the minute I boarded a Javelin; it was all I could do to keep a firm grip on the Allspark with my sweaty hands.

"Give me that Cube, boy!" came a booming voice from just behind us.

I glanced over my shoulder, and saw Megatron coming in for the kill. I could make out the individual gears in his leering face, which made me feel more nauseous than the height at which we were flying.

"Can't you fly any faster?" I shouted to Shayera, even though I already knew the answer. Her wings were obviously straining to their limits to keep us aloft, and her face shone with sweat. She noticed me looking up at her, and swerved sharply towards the ground. "What are you _doing_?"

"You're faster than I am, even with a sprained ankle," she said quickly, dropping me when we were about three feet from the ground. I barely kept from doing a face-plant. "Get the Allspark to the chopper, and I'll take care of Megatron."

My eyes widened as I realized what she was about to do. "No, don't!"

But it was too late. Mace raised above her head, Shayera flew back at the enormous Decepticon with a fierce battle cry. Her wings arched behind her as she sped towards him through the air…

…then he effortlessly flicked her aside, like she was merely a fly buzzing tiresomely around his head. Megatron kept coming straight towards me, while Shayera's limp body soared through the air, slamming into a building before dropping towards the ground.

"Shayera!" I screamed, starting to run to her. No one could survive such a fall, not even her. Then I saw Megatron towering above me, closer than could be healthy, and ran in the opposite direction.

Gulping in air, I hopped desperately at super speed, my eyes focused on the prize: the building Lennox had directed to me. I mentally vowed to get in better shape after all this was over as the leg supporting all my weight ached, and my arms wobbled from holding the mildly-heavy Allspark so tightly and for so long.

_Please, please, please, please, please. _The word echoed in my mind as I gritted my teeth and kept going. The ground shook violently beneath my single foot, and I nearly lost my balance. So close…

Then I was there, safely inside the ground floor of the building. I stopped in the corner of the shadowed room, gasping for air and leaning against the wall. I had never actually hated running before. But then, I hadn't really been running; more along the lines of hopping very quickly.

A huge silhouette loomed up in the window of the building, signaling that Megatron had arrived to claim his prize. I glanced frantically around the large room, noting a pair of winding stairs in the opposite corner of the room, and used another burst of speed to reach them. Then I hurried up to the next floor, one hand clutching the cold metal railing.

Something crashed deafeningly on the ground floor, entire building shaking, and I froze on the stairs. I was a little afraid that they would collapse, giving me the suckiest death a superhero could ever be awarded and letting Megatron get his hands on the Allspark. Thankfully, they held. I guess whoever built the place was a much better construction worker than I had thought.

"I smell you, boy!" Megatron thundered from below, making goose bumps break out on my arms. This guy was seriously creepy; he could definitely give Bats – even on his worst day – a run for his money.

I looked up, and saw countless flights of stairs stretching on above me. _Wonderful_. Taking a deep breath and trying to stop the asthmatic wheezing coming from my lungs, I once again started towards the roof.

"You can't outrun me forever! I will have the Allspark!" Megatron roared, and the whole building shook again.

"Whoa!" I staggered, almost toppling backwards, and the Allspark slipped from my sweaty grip. It tumbled backwards down the stairs, clanking loudly against the metal.

I stood there for a few long seconds, staring with horror as the Allspark literally fell down towards Megatron's grasp, then forced myself after it. I took the steps three at a time, gripping the railing so tightly that my knuckles looked freakishly white. The Allspark seemed faster than me, even taking so many steps at a time, and was steadily falling back towards the ground floor. My fingers brushed its metal surface, and I grimaced in concentration. I wasn't going to make it…

There! My hand triumphantly clamped down on the Allspark, pulling it back to safety, then I turned and ran back towards where I'd previously been. I tried not to count the many steps, and ignored the burning in both my lungs and injured ankle. _As Grammy Flash once said, try hard so you don't have to fail and pick up the many pieces,_ I thought to myself with determination, forcing myself to move even faster. I could see light streaming down from the roof, just ahead…

And then I was there, bursting out into the sunlight and gasping with relief. I glanced around, staggering slightly with weariness, and tried not to notice just how high in the air I currently was. And I'd thought flying with Shayera was bad.

I fumbled for the flare Lennox had given me, which was supposed to be sticking from my pocket. For one heart-stopping moment, I thought I'd lost it, then found it in the opposite pocket. Striking it against the stone ledge running its way around the roof, I took off towards the other side of the building.

I could already hear the thud-thud-thud of a chopper, and glanced around so fast I nearly gave myself whiplash. The helicopter was coming in fast from the west. "Hey! _Hey_!" I shouted, as loud as I could, frantically waving the flare. I kicked my speed up and notch and sharply veered my course towards where the helicopter was coming down. I could hardly believe it, but it seemed like I was actually going to make it!

The helicopter was hovering beside the building, an official-looking man in a black uniform leaning out the open door, arms outstretched. Keeping my gaze glued firmly to his waiting arms, ready to accept the Allspark, I ran to the very edge of the roof and leaned out into open space. My head spun as the ground below seemed to sneer up at me, and it was all I could do not to faint at the sight of it. Definitely not my most heroic moment.

The Allspark was inches from the man's grasp, and I leaned further still. So close…

A flash of color caught my eye, and I whipped my head towards it. Megatron had climbed a neighboring building, and had apparently fired a missile. It was speeding right at the helicopter. "Look out!" I shouted, pulling away again. I threw myself to the roof, concrete brutally tearing the skin from my arms, and tried to shield my head.

The explosion as the helicopter was taken out was amazingly loud, and waves of intense heat washed over me. I cried out in pain and tried to press myself even flatter to the rooftop, which unfortunately didn't work. I was the Flash, not Plastic Man. I couldn't just melt my entire body at will, much to my dismay.

Dizzily looking up, I saw that the helicopter was definitely gone. I stumbled to my feet, whole body aching, still holding the costly Allspark to my chest. Even the powerful sounds of battle below were muffled, and I felt kind of dead. Maybe I was dead. Except I couldn't see any bodies – belonging to me, namely – on the ground before me, which was usually how it was in the movies.

An earthquake rocked my world, and I nearly went flying off the side of the building, even with no wings. I fell back against the ledge and frantically grabbed at it to keep my balance, further skinning my injured hands. Megatron sneered at me, taking another step towards me. I assumed he'd leapt over from the other building, unless he had suddenly developed teleporting abilities. And that was the last thing I needed right then.

I looked over my shoulder, and saw nothing to help me defend myself, only the ground so dizzyingly far below. Swallowing hard, I made my way onto the very edge of the rooftop, clutching one of the statues to keep balanced. Megatron was looming even closer, and I had a very bad feeling about the way things were going to turn out.

This was one of those times when I _really_ wanted a set of wings like Shayera's.

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So close now, guys! Review?


	20. Crescendo

Chapter Nineteen: Crescendo

"Is it fear or courage that compels you to keep fighting my will, boy?" Megatron sneered, coming to a halt just a few feet from where I clung perilously to the statue. His eyes flashed a brilliant crimson in the sunlight, and the metal making up his body gleamed.

I ignored his question, and decided to cut straight to the chase. "I'm not giving you the Allspark, Megatron! So why do you and your little Decepticon buddies just pack up and go home?" I shouted, voice sounding much braver than I felt on the inside. _Why_ did the ground have to be so far below?

"You will not give it up willingly?"

I thought of John, left alone to battle this guy, and how there was so far no sign of him. Then I thought of Shayera, tossed so carelessly aside like a piece of garbage. And of Bats and Linda; I didn't even know if they had survived that first wave of attacks.

"I don't think so!" I shouted back at him, edging a little closer to the rim of the building. Wind buffeted my body, and I prayed that my arms would be strong enough to hold on.

Megatron shook his head, an expression of raw fury covering his metal face. "Oh, so unwise."

"What are you gonna do, stare me to death?" I taunted him. The moment these words slipped out, completely of their own free will, I realized that it probably wasn't best to mock this guy. For one thing, he was about ten times bigger than I was.

But then again, when had that ever stopped me?

As a response to my taunt, Megatron drew back his arm. In what seemed like slow motion, I stared as his arm swiftly reshaped into a thick chain, a spiked ball swinging from its end. Megatron paused to curl his lip at me, then swung the ball.

I jumped out of the way just as the ball slammed into the statue I'd been clinging to. It exploded deafeningly into pieces, thick shards of stone pummeling my body. I ducked before the loose stone head could knock off my own, leaping behind another statue.

Megatron snarled, turning to face my new position. He attacked once more, but I jumped agilely to the next statue. This was almost _too_ easy. The only downside was that I was running out of statues.

"Do not delay the inevitable! You will die by my hand!" he roared, swinging the ball so hard and so fast that I heard it whistle by my head as I jumped out of the way.

"Not today, Mega-whimp!" I leered at him, waving the Allspark. Probably not the best move, but I couldn't help myself. It was just in my nature to banter with the bad guys. Sue me.

Unfortunately, I was too busy taunting the Decepticon leader to notice the fact that he had stopped advancing, and was staring at something just behind me. I didn't think anything of it until something sharp stabbed the back of my shirt, lifting me into the air.

I shrieked girlishly, legs swinging through the air. I nearly dropped the Allspark, but managed to get a good grip on it at the last second. I looked up instead of down as I rose higher and higher into the sky, starting to get a very bad feeling. And when I saw what had the back of my shirt, the feeling only got worse.

The jet that Ironhide had previously called Starscream had attached the tip of a wing to my shirt, pressing dangerously into my skin. And he hadn't gotten that good of a grip, I was horrified to see. My shirt was barely hanging on, already starting to tear.

Trying to stay as still as possible, which was easier said than done when being swung through the air like a sack of potatoes, I grimly clutched the Allspark and wondered where this guy was taking me. Was he just going to drop me from the sky or something? That would be just my luck, especially since I _couldn't fly_.

My question was soon answered, and I almost wished it hadn't been. Starscream wheeled sharply around, making a wide circle as he veered straight back at Megatron. My eyes widened as I saw the way the enormous robot waited for me, one huge hand ready to receive and crush my body. I thought of dropping the Allspark before we reached him, but I didn't know what would happen when it hit the ground. It could explode for all I knew.

As Megatron got closer and closer, I finally realized what I had to do. I used a burst of speed to wrench my shirt free from the tip of Starscream's wing, slamming the Allspark and my arm against his wing. I pulled free with a tearing sound, while Starscream fell off-course, falling out of control towards another building. I hoped no one was inside, because I didn't think he would be able to get himself out of that crash course anytime soon.

But that was the least of my worries as I plummeted downward, the ground that had seemed so far below from the roof coming up to meet me much too fast.

I ignored the roar of rage from behind me, concentrating instead on quickly juggling the Allspark to my left arm. Then I started spinning my right arm at super speed, attempting to slow my descent enough to survive the impact. It worked…sort of. My fall slowly minutely, but I started drifting sideways, and my arm was already starting to get tired from supporting all my weight. I didn't know how Shayera did it, even though she had _two_ wings.

The ground was even closer now, and my neat little arm trick apparently wasn't working. I squeezed my eyes shut and clung to the Allspark for dear life, wondering how it would feel when I hit the ground. Would I feel the life slam brutally out of me, or would I just _die_? Well, I was about to find out…

Two hands grabbed my shoulders, and I almost died of a heart attack before I could even hit the ground. Whipping my head around, I laughed out loud with relief when I saw Diana above me, hanging on as tight as she could. And since she _was_ an Amazon, that was pretty darn tight.

"Diana! You wouldn't believe how glad I am to see you!" I shouted up at her with a grin. "What took you so long?"

"Superman and I were a bit busy," she answered calmly, not seeming to care that she was causing my shoulders unimaginable discomfort the way she was holding them. But at least I was alive. "We stopped by and had a little talk with your friend Agent Simmons. I don't think he liked you very much."

"How rude! I've got such a _loveable_ personality." Then a thought struck me. "Did you see–"

"Hey, hot shot. Can't I leave you alone for an hour without you getting into trouble?"

"GL!" I turned eagerly towards the voice, and saw John and Clark flying along beside me. I noticed that he looked a little beaten, but he was undeniably alive. "It's great to see you! And go see about Shayera whenever you can; she got hurt." I didn't give him any real details, knowing that he couldn't be burdened with worry for our teammate when we were in the middle of a fight. "She's been seriously worried about you, man."

John looked surprised. "Shayera?"

"Yeah, she was practically–"

"Diana!" Supes suddenly shouted, grabbing GL and pulling him out of the way. But his warning came seconds too late as the missile from Megatron slammed into Diana, detonating on impact. She lost consciousness immediately, letting go of my shoulders and falling towards the ground. GL and Supes both rushed to grab her as she fell, seeming to forget the teensy little fact that I couldn't fly.

For the second time in less than five minutes, I fell towards the ground. This time I didn't close my eyes, staring with growing dread at the ground as it loomed closer and closer. I still hoped for some kind of miracle-last-minute rescue, even though it was highly unlikely.

I couldn't have been surprised when just that happened. I landed with a startled yelp in the giant hand of Optimus, which thankfully didn't close and squash me like a bug. I hopped to my feet, swaying drunkenly and still clutching the Allspark. "God, Optimus, I thought I was so dead there for a minute! You saved my life!" I cried.

He stared grimly down at me, ignoring my voiced gratitude. "I do not know if I am strong enough to defeat Megatron," he said quietly. "I need you to do something if I can't, Wally."

"What? Anything," I rushed to assure him, still breathless from The Fall.

"If I cannot defeat Megatron, you must push the Allspark into my chest. I will sacrifice myself to save the Earth and its humans." With his free hand, Optimus pulled back a big panel on his chest, revealing a glowing blue spark inside. I guessed it was like his heart or something.

"No, Optimus," I refused quickly. "You can't kill yourself just to save the planet! That's crazy!"

"You must, Wally."

"But I don't want–"

Megatron chose that moment to drop from the sky, literally shaking my very bones. My teeth slammed together so hard that a sharp pain exploded in my skull, and I forgot any further protests I would have made. Optimus tossed me gently towards the ground, from a good five feet up, and I landed on the concrete with a dull thud. Even though the breath was knocked from my lungs, I managed to pull myself towards the sidewalk, out of Megatron's view.

"_Prime_!" Megatron roared, though the sound of his voice sounded quieter than usual. My ears didn't seem to be working as well as they once had.

"Megatron," Optimus answered, much more calmly. He moved to meet the towering Decepticon, showing no outwards signs of fear that I could see. "This ends today. It's you and me."

"No, it's just _me_, Prime!" Then Megatron threw himself at Optimus, hands outstretched to grab him. Their impact shook all the surrounding buildings, and the glass shattered from a couple of them.

I managed to cower beside a parked car, loosely holding the Allspark with one arm, and peered under it to watch the battle. Optimus was good, but not good enough. He was totally getting his ass kicked as Megatron repeatedly threw him to the ground and stomped on his head and body. Sparks flew, and I grimaced while wishing there was something I could do. Optimus was losing, and losing badly.

Sprawled on the ground, sparks still flying from his body, Optimus tried to get up and failed. I stared with horror, wondering if I was about to see him killed. Megatron grabbed him by the shoulders and started pulling, visibly straining. I realized what he was about to do: tear off Optimus' head and properly extinguish his spark. I jumped to my feet, not sure what I could do to help but knowing I couldn't just sit there and do nothing.

Before I could run over and probably get myself killed, Superman swooped dramatically from the sky and flew straight at Megatron. His mighty fists slammed into the metal like thunder, and sent Megatron sliding across the concrete, away from Optimus. His feet left huge trenches in the ground.

Megatron tried to swing at Supes, but the so-called Man of Steel was too fast. He flew easily out of the way, as John and a very battered Diana showed up on the scene. GL pummeled the Decepticon with flashes of green energy, while Diana joined Superman in punching Megatron with all her strength. I felt like I should be waving signs of encouragement or something.

One of Megatron's hands, a faint trail of sparks flying from it, made contact with Superman. He crashed to the ground and bounced for several hundred feet, leaving even more deep trenches. When he finally stopped, smoke rose from his body.

Seeing that Megatron was sort of distracted, I shouted John's name. "Catch this!" I shouted, throwing the Allspark as hard as I could while hoping that I was doing the right thing. "Put it in his chest! Megatron's!"

GL didn't ask questions. He caught the Allspark with a quickly-formed emerald rope, then slung the rope back at Megatron. It slammed into his chest before the Decepticon could react, and an explosion of red-orange sparks filled the air. He convulsed, grabbing frantically at his chest with both hands. The light grew brighter and brighter, until I had to cover my eyes, then everything was still.

I cautiously glanced towards Megatron, almost afraid at what I would see. But the scene that greeted me was one that made me sag with relief against the parked car. Megatron had collapsed to the ground, one hand lying across his smoking chest. The evil crimson had faded from his eyes, and the spark in his chest no longer glowed. There was also no sign of the Allspark.

I heaved a sigh of immense relief, hardly able to believe what I was seeing. It was finally over. Megatron was dead.

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The epilogue will be posted shortly! :D


	21. Epilogue

Epilogue

Optimus staggered weakly to his feet as I approached. He bent over Megatron and picked something small up, clutching it in his fist. "I'm sorry, but you left me no choice, brother," he said sadly. I felt a surge of guilt, even though Megatron had been one bad dude.

I couldn't have been more surprised when he turned to me, apparently sensing my approach or something. "Wally, we are in your debt," he declared gravely, blue eyes seeming almost to twinkle down at me.

"What? John over there did all the work; all I did was throw it at him," I said pointedly. "And that _was_ the right thing to do, wasn't it? 'Cause it kinda looks like the Allspark was destroyed…"

"It is better this way," the Autobot insisted. "With the Allspark destroyed, none of us will fight over it anymore. Our race might finally have peace."

"Are you sure?" I still felt kind of bad about it, and I couldn't tell if he was just saying that or not.

John came up behind me and patted my shoulder. He was sweaty and covered with dirt, and his eyes gleamed an emerald green. "Don't kid yourself about this, hot shot. If you hadn't thought to throw me the Allspark, Megatron would have probably killed us all."

I tried to look modest, though I was secretly thrilled. Maybe I could finally move on from kid sidekick status to being a real hero! And Linda was bound to be impressed that I'd thought to tell John how to defeat Megatron. Not that it had actually been my idea, since Optimus had told me to, but close enough.

"You did good," Superman agreed simply, beaming over at me. Diana nodded and smiled tiredly, brushing sweaty strands of hair from her eyes.

An engine rumbled behind me, and I turned around to see Bats driving the tow truck up to the curb. Bee was attached to the back with a huge chain, and cheerily waved one arm at me. I felt a surge of relief that he had survived the battle.

The passenger side door of the truck flew open, and Linda raced towards me. I held my arms wide and gladly accepted her hug, even though she squeezed me a bit too tightly for my personal comfort. "Wally, I'm so glad you're okay," she breathed into my ear, sounding a bit tearful.

I pulled away and grinned at her. "Of course I'm okay. I'm the Flash, remember? Fastest Man Alive," I said impishly.

She playfully slugged my shoulder, and shook her head while I gamely tried not to yell with pain. "I still can't believe you're the Flash. All those times I interviewed him, I mean _you_…"

"Wally!"

I turned again at the familiar voice, and hugged Shayera as she reached the little gathering. She was cradling one arm to her chest, and both wings looked mangled, but she was unquestionably alive.

I couldn't have been happier than I was at that moment. Everyone I cared about was alive, and another alien threat had been neutralized. All in a day's work for a member of the Justice League, but I still felt like dancing around and singing. I repressed this unreasonable urge, knowing that the others would think I'd finally snapped. Plus, the approaching Bat would probably take pictures to blackmail me with later.

"What happened?" Linda asked, seeming reluctant to step away from me. At least she refrained herself from hitting my aching arm again, for which I was extremely grateful.

"Wally had the idea to put the Allspark into Megatron's chest, and threw it to me. There was some kind of explosion, and Megatron was killed," GL said, drawing Shayera's attention to him for the first time. I pretended not to notice the way she immediately rushed over to him, grabbing his hand. He didn't exactly resist, either.

"It was nothing, really," I claimed stubbornly. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bats nod approvingly in my direction, the tiniest of smiles curving his lips. I felt overwhelmingly proud to have gained his rare approval, but tried to hide it.

"We couldn't have done it without you," Diana said kindly.

"She's right. We didn't even believe you in the beginning, for Rao's sake," Shayera declared adamantly.

I felt a very _un_heroic blush coming on, and quickly changed the subject. "So all the other Decepticons are dead, right?"

"Yeah, they're taken care of," Linda said. "They weren't nearly as powerful as Megatron."

Superman suddenly jumped and touched his ear, in a way that made me wonder briefly if he'd been stung by a bee. Then I saw the other Founders do the exact same thing, and realized they were hearing something over their comms.

Damn, I needed to get a new one.

"Calm down, J'onn," Superman said with his trademark Boy Scout chuckle. "Everything's fine down here now. Flash saved the day." He looked at me and winked.

"We'll need some clean-up crew down here immediately, to the coordinates of our comm. locations," Batman added briskly. "We've got massive destruction and Decepticon casualties."

"There's definitely going to be a lot of clean-up," I said, starting to feel left out of the conversation. I glanced around at the destruction all around us, and the people cautiously starting to emerge from the ruined buildings. It would probably take months to get everything close to the way it had been.

"All right, I'll look for the crew. Thanks, J'onn." Superman looked over at me again. "The Watchtower finally came back online," he said, for mine and Linda's benefit. "Everything seems to be working again, and J'onn and Mr. Terrific are sending down a clean-up crew to start work on the city."

"Right after the battle is over, we finally get some back-up" Shayera said dryly, rolling her eyes.

"Funny how that worked out," I agreed.

Optimus, who had been so far silent, looked over at something behind me. I felt the tale-tell thud of the ground, signaling that the other Autobots were approaching. I saw both Ironhide and Ratchet, though I was dismayed to see Ironhide holding two separate pieces of Jazz in his hands. "Optimus, we couldn't save him," Ratchet said, and my good mood sank slightly. There had been a causality on the side of the good guys, which really sucked.

Optimus took the pieces into his hands and looked sad. "Oh, Jazz." After a moment, his slumped shoulders straightened, and he gazed down at the rest of us. "We lost a great comrade today, but gained new ones. Thank you, all of you. You honored us with your bravery."

"Aw shucks. It was nothing," I joked. When the others only stared at me, I said quickly, "Never mind."

"We wish to stay on Earth, and help to protect this planet," Optimus suggested, waiting for approval from the Founders. "We could stop any other Decepticon attacks with minimal difficulty, and keep the humans safe."

Superman nodded, at the same time exchanging looks with both Batman and Diana. "We'd be honored if the four of you decided to stay on Earth," he said formally. "You can be part of the reserves, if that's what you want."

Optimus nodded gravely.

"What about Bee? Is he going to be okay?" I interrupted, gesturing at the yellow Autobot. He had been listening silently to our conversation, and flashing me a very human-looking thumbs-up when he saw me looking.

"I think he will," Ratchet said reassuringly. "I should be able to completely repair his legs. And I will continue to work on his voice malfunction."

"_I like it, I love it!"_ was Bee's musical input to the chat.

"This is great," I declared brightly. "Megatron's defeated, and everything's going to go back to normal. No more being stalked by police cars for me, right?"

"Right," John agreed. I saw the way he was beaming over at Shayera, and tactfully looked in the other direction. The others were doing much the same, probably with the same hopes I had for a coming relationship between the two.

"Does this mean we can go home now?" Linda proposed. "I'm beat, and I've got to get a story ready for tonight's new broadcast. _Not_ with anything about your secret identity involved, Wally," she added quickly, before I could say anything.

I grinned at her. "Have I told you how much I love you?"

"Not lately. We've been kind of busy for the past few hours," she joked, punching my arm. I clutched it and bit down hard on my lip to keep from yelping. She was hurting more than Megatron had!

"Good work, everyone," Superman said. "And Optimus, I'll gladly offer rooms at the Watchtower to the four of you, should you decide to use them."

Optimus nodded. "Thank you for your generosity."

"Let's get out of her–" GL broke off and touched his ear. "What? Now? Okay, fine. We're on it."

"What?" I asked reluctantly, almost afraid of what I was about to hear.

"Another breakout at Arkham," he said wearily, rubbing his forehead with the hand not firmly attached to Shayera's. "Copperhead, Star Sapphire, Grundy, and several others. They're robbing a bank."

"Our work never ends," I said grudgingly.

Linda grinned and kissed my cheek, stepping away. "I'll meet you at home, Wally. Good luck."

I grinned at her, brightening again. The others took off in the direction of Arkham, Diana grabbing Batman and pulling him into the air. As I followed them, injured ankle thankfully starting to throb a lot less, I offered one last wave to Linda and the Autobots. Maybe my luck was finally starting to turn around again.

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I just wanted to thank all of you for reviewing all the way through with this story, even though I sometimes took quite a while between updates. ^-^; And I want to extend a special thanks to Cyclon One for being my unofficial beta reader on this story. So thanks again to everyone, and I hope to see you at some of my upcoming stories!


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